Title: Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night
Author: Joyce Sidman
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Year of publication: 2011
Photographer: Rick Allen
Genre: Science
Age Level: 4 up
Theme: Different creatures and what they do
About the author: Joyce Sidman was born on June 4, 1956 in Hartford, Connecticut. She is a published author of children's books and young adult books. She is a poet, children’s book author, writer, and a teacher. She has written many books and some of the published credits of Joyce Sidman include The World According to Dog, This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness, Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow, and Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry. She began to write at an early age. Joyce attended Wesleyan University, and she later earned her teacher’s certificate. She writes poetry, fiction, journalism, and essays, although she currently is best known for her children’s books of poetry, which exhibit her love of the natural world. She currently lives with her family in Minnesota. Joyce's books have won more major awards. For instance, she is an award winner of 2001 Children's Literature Choice Book; Children’s Book Council Showcase Book; Infolink Best Book of the Year 2000. Her book, Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night had received a 2011 Newbery Honor, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of children's and young adult literature as well as her thoughts on the power of poetry in children’s lives.
Synopsis: This book consists of many poems written about different creatures such as crawling and creeping, birds with and without feathers, insects, and nocturnal and animals that are active during the day as well as plants and non plants. For instance, Joyce Sidman wrote about tree bats that spend all night on the wing, hunting for moths, mosquitoes, and other insects. For poems about plants, the author of this book tells why plants need sunlight to grow and make energy, but mushrooms do not because mushrooms live on decaying matter such as rotting logs, stumps, and leaves. The poem about where mushrooms come from is very interesting though there are many interesting poems in the book.
About the photographer: Rick Allen runs a business called Kenspeckle Letterpress with his wife Marian Lansky. He is an excellent illustrator who started illustrating in the 19th Century. Allen began his illustrations by painting his wood engravings and cuts in small editions by using multiple blocks and hand coloring. Rick Allen made his stunning picture book debut with his illustrations for Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night, written by Joyce Sidman. The book explains a little about the process on the copyright page, which one should take a look at it. But I was curious to find out more about this unique way of making pictures.
Pre-reading activities: With a picture book of different animals and plants I will tell the children stories about each of the pictures. After telling the story, I will ask each child to show me his or her best plant/animal from the picture book.
Post-reading activities: The children will be given some blank picture drawings of various animals and trees and they will be asked to color their favorite pictures using the crayon given to them. They will take their projects home to show their parents.
Reflection: This is a great book and I recommend it to parents to read to their children. Reading this book to children will help them acquire the knowledge of science before receiving formal education. Children from 6 up who read this book, Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by themselves will be very smart in science subjects and especially in biology.
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