Bringing Thoreau to Life for Young Readers with Donna Marie Przybojewski

The Thoreau Society (thoreausociety.org) is a Concord-based organization with members all over the world. One of the most dedicated is Donna Marie Przybojewski, who teaches at St. Benedict Catholic School in Garfield Heights, Ohio. Five years ago, she set out to share her passion for the author of Walden—“not just [to] introduce Henry to children, but to help them develop a relationship with him.”

The result was “Saunter the Year with Henry David Thoreau,” a year-long, interdisciplinary curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade students. (In the classroom she often appears in character as Henry, beard and all.) Resources for such an ambitious curriculum were scarce, so Donna Marie began writing and illustrating books for elementary and middle school readers, presenting vignettes of Thoreau’s life and describing his ideas in age-appropriate ways.

Since 2016, Donna Marie, a 36-year veteran Language Arts teacher and self-taught illustrator, has completed seven children’s books about Thoreau, published by Streamline Publishing of Cleveland, Ohio. These books aren’t a series in the sense of a sequential narrative, but separate paths of discovery that invite children to enter into Henry’s world at their own pace. The purposes and age ranges vary from book to book; they also vary in theme, textual style, and media.

The first book, published in 2016, is Henry David Thoreau, Author, Philosopher, Naturalist, a discussion starter coloring book for Kindergarten through Grade 3. Each spread features a black-and-white scene from Henry’s life. On the facing page, there are open-ended questions (“Have you ever taken a hike in the woods? What kinds of things did you see?”) and a space for children to draw a picture of a suggested subject (“Draw a picture of an animal you watched in your back yard”). We see Henry’s boat and cabin, his animal and bird friends, his enjoyment of ice skating in winter and watermelons in summer, and even his epic pursuit of his father’s runaway pig. Donna Marie doesn’t shy away from difficult discussion topics, such as Henry’s helping refugees from enslavement and Henry’s death.

Henry David Thoreau, Who Can He Be? (2016) is an alphabet book for Preschool through Grade 3. Donna Marie used biographical details to introduce Henry as a nature lover, but also as a lover of good food and even, sometimes, good company. The book is written in rhymed verse (e.g., “P is for POPCORN Henry did make. The children enjoyed it better than cake”). Her illustrations are done in an exuberant style, reminiscent of folk art, with rich colors and bold brushstrokes. Parents and grandparents will recognize familiar images from Thoreau’s life, like his green desk that’s in the Concord Museum.

In Henry David Thoreau Loved the Seasons of the Year (2017), the cycle of the seasons provides a framework for Henry’s experiences of nature and glimpses of his daily life at Walden (swimming, gardening, cleaning house). It’s told in simple, age-appropriate language (Grades 1-4).

Donna Marie’s development as an artist is evident in these illustrations, with their notable detail and refinement, and brilliant color. An image of Henry walking in a November rain recalls Daniel Ricketson’s 1855 sketch of him “returning to his shanty from Concord.” Another illustration, of Henry leaning into the wind as snowflakes eddy around him, is an impressionistic gem.

Born in the Nick of Time (2017) is a discussion starter coloring book for readers in Grades 1-5. This is a thoughtful, detailed biography, and at 84 pages it is the longest of the series. We see Henry in the company of his family, neighbors, and colleagues. Ralph Waldo Emerson is there, of course, and Margaret Fuller, the Hawthornes, the Alcotts, Penobscot guide Joe Polis, and jailer Sam Staples. As a bonus, we learn something about the accomplishments of these other individuals, too.

If Henry David Thoreau Traveled the Southwest: An Imaginary Saunter (2018) is a full color picture book in landscape format. As in the previous picture books, the text is in rhyming verse, but there’s much more text per page, suitable for Grades 1-4. It opens with the quote where Henry famously calls for the creation of parks, “a common possession forever,” to be used “for instruction and recreation.”* Donna Marie imagines Thoreau visiting National Parks in Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, places where she had her own transcendent experience of nature. She uses the subjunctive to convey the idea that, although Thoreau was a real person, the story in this book is fictional. (“The sight would be a feast for Henry’s eyes.”)

While this distinction might be lost on some young readers, children don’t need to know about the historical Thoreau to enjoy the nature-themed rhymes and pictures bursting with color. These illustrations may be among her best, alive with the dramatic forms and hues of the Southwest landscape.

Henry David Thoreau: Bell Ringer for Justice (2019), written in prose, is for Grades 4-8. Donna Marie tells the story of the Thoreau family’s participation in the Underground Railroad and Concord’s Anti-Slavery Society, and of Henry’s famous act of civil disobedience and the essay it inspired. She includes profiles of some of Concord’s enslaved and formerly enslaved residents, as well as national figures in the abolitionist movement. The broader imperative of civil rights is apparent in the stories included about other marginalized groups, such as native peoples and—in Henry’s time—Irish immigrants. Thoreau’s lasting influence on social justice is presented in profiles of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi. This book features full-page color illustrations in Donna Marie’s trademark style, but more serious, as befits the subject. Each spread includes open-ended discussion questions, such as, “Have you ever been judged unfairly because of who you are? Have you ever judged others wrongly? How did it make you feel?”

In 2020 Donna published A Life of Joy: Childhood Memories of Henry David Thoreau, a color picture book for Grades 2-5 that shows Henry through the lens of loving family relationships. Each two-page spread tells something about the adult Henry—his boating, for example—and relates it to a formative experience in his childhood, such as fishing with his brother John.

Donna Marie has a new book in the works, inspired by her favorite story in Thoreau’s journal, when his father’s pig got loose, and Henry had to chase it all over Concord. Watch for it in the summer of 2022; it’s called Henry and the Runaway Pig—Retold from Henry David Thoreau’s Journal Entry August 8, 1856.

Donna Marie’s effort to create resources for teaching young children about Thoreau was a remarkable challenge to undertake, one that involved considerable creativity and research. Her commitment to accuracy is obvious throughout the text and illustrations. In the artistic process, she has evidently taken her own journey of joy, discovering herself as an author/illustrator and inspiring a new generation with her love of Henry.

(This article was adapted from a book review published in the Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 312, Winter 2021. Reprinted by permission of the Thoreau Society.)

Notes

Thoreau, Henry David. Journal XII: March 2, 1859 – November 30, 1859, ed. Bradford Torrey (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1906), 387; October 15, 1859.