“Did you write on your books when you were in school?”
Yes. Of course.
The cover for Textbook of an Ordinary Life began with a question and an animated discussions about the sorts of things my husband and I would write on the paper covers of our textbooks in middle school and high school—I recorded fleeting crushes and drew ornate flowers and penned the names of friends in bubble letters, along with the occasional lines of melodramatic poetry; he wrote lyrics to songs he would finish later, punctuated by phrases in hand lettered sophistication and pictures of things in his classroom—an effort to keep himself awake during a particularly dull time.
Textbook of an Ordinary Life is a poetry book laid out by subject—English, Science, History, Math, and several more—and its cover looks very much like one of the brown papers I used to cover my textbooks in high school (I rebelled against the plain white ones teachers handed out and used brown shopping bags instead). My husband took a brown Trader Joe’s bag, flipped it inside out, and then doodled by hand (you’ll see a heart drawn around the initials BT—Ben Toalson—and RP—Rachel Patton, though we didn’t meet until college) a much better version of what my book covers looked like in school.
This collection of poetry is intended to illuminate the growing and changing nature of our lives, at every stage. Which makes this cover—a decorated and doodled-on book cover—perfect.
More info about the book
Textbook of an Ordinary Life, publishes Nov. 6, in paperback and ebook form.
Blurb
Textbook of an Ordinary Life is a collection of poetry and prose that examines ordinary life with extraordinary curiosity, wisdom, and insight. With grace and eloquence, poet Rachel Toalson examines the pleasures of reading, the meaning of measured silences, weather, the masks we wear, the unexpected delight of running, art criticism, the soul of music, wandering, regret, love, and many other wonders of ordinary life.
The poetry in Textbook is divided into subjects like English, History, Science, Math, Social Studies, Art, Music, Geography, and Philosophy.
About the author
Rachel is the author of three poetry books, This is How You Know, Life: a definition of terms, and The Book of Uncommon Hours; and a middle grade novel-in-verse, The Colors of the Rain. She has been writing poetry since the time she could hold a pencil and form what passed for letters on the page. Her first introduction to poetry was the brilliance of Shel Silverstein, whom she still reads today. She recently exposed her sons to the hilarious Jack Prelutsky poem, “Homework! Oh Homework!” which was one of her favorites as a kid. They loved it (as she still does).
Her poems for children and adults can be read in literary magazines and online publications around the world.
Rachel lives with her husband and six sons in San Antonio, Texas. She daily reads poetry (as well as many, many books) to her children, because poetry, she says, contains the essence of life, and reading, she says, is the gateway to a future of promise.
First chapter
Tracks
I walked along the
railroad tracks today
where my brother and sister and I
used to spend
our afternoons as kids.
I sat on the rails,
felt their cold gnaw
through my jeans,
watched the rain,
listened to my children wonder,
from the car, at the
newness of an experience:
this abandoned train track
that held pieces of
their mother’s childhood.
And it all sounded
like poetry to me.
