Critical Reception
In 1958, New York Times reviewer Anzia Yezierska said that Fisher “lights the commonplace moment with wonder.” According to the Poetry Foundation, her poems are "suffused with curiosity and love for the workings of the natural world." Kirkus Reviews called her verse "deftly evocative". The New York Times Book Review called her "a true poet, no mere light versifier." In I Heard a Bluebird Sing Boyds Mill Press said, "her work is forever fresh and timeless. With a child's heart and a knowing hand, she has honed simple words and ideas into small poetic gems that shine with clarity and sensitivity… This important anthology celebrates the work of one of America's beloved writers for young people."
Ms Fisher's natural history rhyming texts were often well received. Of Going Barefoot, a Kirkus reviewer wrote, "This rhymed text imparts a substantial amount of naturalist information in a pleasant and animated fashion." The factual content of her books was often praised. About All on a Mountain Day, Saturday Review wrote "There is a real feeling for these animals and the part each plays—the hunted and the hunters— in the over-all pattern of nature."
Her historical novels have been called "rich in detail", and "emotionally appealing". The Horn Book said, We Alcotts "Captures the aura of their lives, permits them to speak for themselves, and reveals the humors and rigors of their situation." In Jeanne d'Arc, "The familiar story is beautifully retold for young readers, with just enough historical background and a reverent simplicity." National Council of Teachers of English complimented her "energizing American history prose against a background of place geography and basic information", and goes on to say, "Miss Fisher knows human nature."
Not everyone praised all her works so highly, however. Kirkus reviewed the award-winning Feathered Ones and Furry as a "collection of coy and innocuous little animal rhymes. The verses are technically conventional, with rhythm and rhyme schemes ranging from mildly pleasant to flatly predictable". Again, writing of In the Middle of the Night, in which a little girl celebrates her birthday by taking a special night time walk with her Father, Kirkus said, "The bibliotherapeutic possibilities perhaps outweigh anything that might be said about the poem as poetry".
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