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.