Friday, February 19, 2010

Poetry Friday: Red Sings From the Treetops

White, white, white.

After weeks of snow here, that's all I can see.



 But Joyce Sidman owns a different set of eyes.




In the winter dawn,
Pink blooms
powder-soft
over pastel hills.

Pink prickles:
warm fingers
against cold cheeks.

and a few pages later:

Where is Green in winter?
Green darkens, shrinks,
stiffens into needles.
Green waits
in the hearts of trees,
feeling
the earth
turn.

--From Red Sings From the Treetops, written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski.


Red Sings From the Treetops is the winner of the 2009 Cybils poetry award, given to a poetry book that is both literary and filled with "kid appeal." I was honored to be part of the final round of discussion.

From the Cybils announcement:

Observation, discovery, connection . . . Red Sings From the Treetops embodies everything poetry is meant to be. The vivid words of poet Joyce Sidman -- which are fresh even when writing about the oldest of concepts, color -- and the gloriously hue-soaked pictures of illustrator Pamela Zagarenski combine to create a poetry book that is both thoughtful and exuberant.
Readers can hunt for small details in the sweep of larger images and thrill to a-ha! moments of discovery. They can read the book as one full, circular story or as a series of individual, eye-opening poems. Either way, the beauty of this book will leave them feeling connected to something larger than themselves.

Well-done, Joyce and Pamela.

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Irene Latham.

9 comments:

  1. I've heard such fabulous things about this book, and look forward to getting into it. Thanks for the sneak peek!

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  2. Reading those words again fills me with new wonder and awe. SUCH a beautiful book. And boy do we need to bathe ourselves in color with all this whiteness everywhere.

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  3. I want to check out this book, too. Joyce is such a marvelous poet. Thanks for sharing.

    Laura Evans

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  4. Lovely post - especially love the photos, which add so much to this post!

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  5. Sara,

    We've still got plenty of snow on the ground around these parts--even though we didn't get hit by a megastorm as you did.

    I love both the poetry and the art in RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS. I thought Zagarenski's illustrations were a perfect match for Sidman's poetic text.

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  6. A lovely post as we continue to negotiate all the snow, thanks, Sara!

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  7. Lovely!! Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to reading the whole book for the DCKidlit bookclub.

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  8. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous book. It very much deserves that abundantly nice adjective.

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  9. Such a fabulous book. Isn't it fun to see through Joyce's eyes for a bit!

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