{"id":46435,"date":"2026-04-25T22:34:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T02:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=46435"},"modified":"2026-04-25T22:34:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T02:34:01","slug":"review-of-goldfinches-by-mary-oliver-art-by-melissa-sweet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=46435","title":{"rendered":"Review of Goldfinches, by Mary Oliver, art by Melissa Sweet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goldfinches_large.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goldfinches_large.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"209\" height=\"250\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-46457\" \/><\/a><em>Goldfinches<\/em><\/p>\n<p>by Mary Oliver<br \/>\nart by Melissa Sweet<\/p>\n<p>Viking, 2026.  36 pages.<br \/>\nReview written April 20, 2026, from a library book.<br \/>\nStarred Review<\/p>\n<p>This little book is a poem by Mary Oliver &#8211; illustrated by Caldecott Honor illustrator Melissa Sweet.  The poem about goldfinches shows the author observing in fields as goldfinches fly by and make their nests.  Then a note at the back explains how Mary Oliver did just that &#8211; and Melissa Sweet imitated her to make authentic pictures.<\/p>\n<p>I also enjoyed how the artist put a palette of colors at the front, labeled with phrases from the poem, and you can find them later in the book.<\/p>\n<p>But of course what I love most is the poem, which grew on me more each time I read it &#8211; and Melissa Sweet&#8217;s illustrations helped me appreciate it more from the start.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s how the poem ends:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Is it necessary to say any more?<br \/>\nHave you heard them singing in the wind, above the final fields?<br \/>\nHave you ever been so happy in your life?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This book has the power to fill you with peace and happiness and send you out to nature to find even more.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maryoliver.com\/\">MaryOliver.com<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.melissasweet.net\/\">MelissaSweet.net<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.com\/penguin-young-readers-overview\/\">Penguin.com\/kids<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0593692411\/sonderbooksco-20\" target=\"outside\">Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Find this review on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonderbooks.com\">Sonderbooks<\/a> at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/goldfinches.html\">www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/goldfinches.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer:  I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?page_id=23\">Subscribe<\/a> for more reviews and talk about books.<\/p>\n<p>Join the conversation: What did you think of this book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Goldfinches by Mary Oliver art by Melissa Sweet Viking, 2026. 36 pages. Review written April 20, 2026, from a library book. Starred Review This little book is a poem by Mary Oliver &#8211; illustrated by Caldecott Honor illustrator Melissa Sweet. The poem about goldfinches shows the author observing in fields as goldfinches fly by and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,28,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-nonfiction-review","category-poetry","category-starred-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46435"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46458,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46435\/revisions\/46458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}