Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night

by Joyce Sidman, Rick Allen (Illustrator)

Overview

A 2011 Newbery Honor Book

 


Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night.

Welcome to the night, where mice stir and furry moths flutter. Where snails spiral into shells as orb spiders circle in silk. Where the roots of oak trees recover and repair from their time in the light. Where the porcupette eats delicacies—raspberry leaves!—and coos and sings.

Come out to the cool, night wood, and buzz and hoot and howl—but do beware of the great horned owl—for it’s wild and it’s windy way out in the woods!

This Newbery Honor-winning picture book combines beautifully written poetry with facts of the forest and elaborate illustrations to form a marvelously engaging collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547152288
Publisher:	HMH Books
Publication date:	09/06/2010
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	293,772
Product dimensions:	10.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	1020L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Joyce Sidman is the award-winning poet of many fine books, including two Caldecott Honor books, Red Sings from Treetops and Song of the Water Boatman. She lives in Wayzata, Minnesota.
www.joycesidman.com
 
Rick Allen makes his Houghton Mifflin picture book debut with this very book. He produces myriad printed ephemerae at The Kenspeckle Letterpress in Duluth, Minnesota.
www.kenspeckleletterpress.com

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Allen's detailed yet moody prints encapsulate the mysteries and magic of the midnight hours. In Sidman's delicious poems, darkness is the norm, and there's nothing to fear but the rising sun."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This is a fine collection for classroom use at any time, but it'll bring extra impact to those who can find a way to share it at dusk with the lights dimmed, watching through the windows as the nocturnal ballet begins outside."—The Bulletin, starred review

"This picture book combines lyrical poetry and compelling art with science concepts."—Booklist, starred review

"The dark lines of Allen's skillful lino cut prints make the perfect accompaniment to a book of night poems, with their subtle colors allowing the reader to seek out the creatures slowly, just as one's eye becomes accustomed to finding things in the dark."—The Horn Book, starred review

"The bookmaking is beautiful with the concept of night lending itself generously to poetry. "—School Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

"Welcome to the night!" cries the opening poem in this celebration of nocturnal life. Everything from snails to mushrooms has a role to play and something different to say (the title is taken from a concrete poem about a horned owl, narrated by its would-be prey: "Perched missile,/ almost invisible, you/ preen silent feathers,/ swivel your sleek satellite/ dish of a head"). Spiders offer advice, porcupettes pirouette, and the moon laments the dawn, all illuminated by debut talent Allen's detailed yet moody prints, which encapsulate the mysteries and magic of the midnight hours. Opposite each poem is a short note on the featured creature, explaining its appearance and habits. In Sidman's delicious poems, darkness is the norm, and there's nothing to fear but the rising sun. Ages 6-9. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Allen's detailed yet moody prints encapsulate the mysteries and magic of the midnight hours. In Sidman's delicious poems, darkness is the norm, and there's nothing to fear but the rising sun."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This is a fine collection for classroom use at any time, but it'll bring extra impact to those who can find a way to share it at dusk with the lights dimmed, watching through the windows as the nocturnal ballet begins outside."—The Bulletin, starred review

"This picture book combines lyrical poetry and compelling art with science concepts."—Booklist, starred review

"The dark lines of Allen's skillful lino cut prints make the perfect accompaniment to a book of night poems, with their subtle colors allowing the reader to seek out the creatures slowly, just as one's eye becomes accustomed to finding things in the dark."—The Horn Book, starred review

"The bookmaking is beautiful with the concept of night lending itself generously to poetry. "—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Gr 3–6—Myra Lucretia Taylor expressively reads Joyce Sidman's lush verse (Houghton Mifflin, 2010) in a warm and soothing voice that adds to the poems' nocturnal mood. She subtly differentiates between the poems and the narratives that are interspersed between them. Listeners are first drawn in by the lyrical "Welcome to the Night," which is followed by an introduction to the nocturnal world and to the raccoon's adaptations that make it a successful night hunter. In each of the following ten poems, an animal or plant is introduced and its night habits are explored in a variety of poetic forms. Then, in a brief prose paragraph, additional information about the night dweller and new vocabulary are presented. For example, after "Crickets Speak," we are told about the mechanics of stridulation—producing a shrill sound by rubbing body parts together. Listeners learn how snails build their shell, what a porcupette is and how it grows, how orb spiders spin webs, how owls hunt their prey, and much more. Finally, "Moon's Lament" closes the nighttime tour. The book's glossary is not included in the recording. The Newbery Honor book's gorgeous, detailed linoleum print illustrations by Rick Allen are as beautiful as the poems, so be sure to have it available to use in tandem with the recording. The second track includes page-turning signals. The expressive, engaging poems and the rich and interesting factual information will attract students interested in nature as well as poetry.—MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann and Thomas Jefferson Schools, Binghamton, NY

School Library Journal

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