The City Sings Green & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife

by Erica Silverman, Ginnie Hsu (Illustrator)

Overview

A unique and artful blend of poetry, science, and activism, this picture book shows how city dwellers can intervene so that nature can work her magic. Perfect for fans of The Curious Garden and Harlem Grown. 

In Oslo, Norway: citizens create a honeybee highway that stretches from one side of the city to the other, offering flowerpots, resting spots, bee boxes, and beehives—even water fountains—every eight hundred feet.

In the Bronx, New York: a community rallies to clean their river and cheers at the return of the long-lost beaver population.

In Busselton, Australia: people make a rope bridge that swings high above speeding cars, creating a safe path for tree-hopping possums and squirrels alike.

Through a mix of lyrical poems, real-life success stories, and bouquet-bright artwork, The City Sings Green explores the environmental impact of humans and showcases the many ways that we can rewild cities across the globe. Together, we can welcome nature back!

Detailed back matter includes sources, links to explore, ways to help, and recommended reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358434566
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/02/2024
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	497,790
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

ERICA SILVERMAN is the author of the Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa early reader books, the first of which received a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor. Lana's World is her newest easy reader series. She has also written many picture books for children, including When the Chickens Went on Strike, Big Pumpkin, Hanukkah Hop, and Don't Fidget a Feather. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Ginnie Hsu is a Visual Storyteller and educator living in upstate New York. Her work is often inspired by everyday life, nature, human living, and well-being. Growing up with her grandparents and her childhood in Taiwan significantly impacted who she is as an artist. She believes good stories incorporate an awareness of empathy, humans and society, observation of problems, constant learning, and a desire to research. She loves exploring new ways to tell stories and hopes to contribute work that affects meaningful change in the world. 

Editorial Reviews

"Vivid verse brings to life a variety of global efforts toward environmental stewardship and revitalization. Though it’s clear that our planet faces grave danger, readers will come away feeling that positive change is within their grasp." — Kirkus Reviews

"Place-based poetry extols cities that have undertaken rewilding efforts in this uplifting poetry collection from Silverman. Colorful wildflowers, googly eyed animals, and budding environmentalists of different skin tones populate Hsu’s paintings, which amplify the inspirational examples featured." — Publishers Weekly

"Silverman celebrates 11 successful projects that have resulted in wildlife returning to their previously disturbed, now mostly urban habitats. Additional prose text offers more comprehensive information, while Hsu's sunny acrylic-gouache illustrations expand on program details. With generous back matter, this makes an upbeat addition to primary ecology units." — Booklist

★ "The concept of worldwide ­changes to better support urban wildlife is told through exquisite rhymes wrapped around big, bold blossoms of color that, along with the plentiful learning resources, will captivate readers. A must-have poetry book." — School Library Journal (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2024

PreS-Gr 3—Urban life, wildlife, and everyday life all artfully blend together in this notable book of poetry starring high-impact visuals, remarkable vocabulary, and impeccable rhyming verse with a smidgen of activism that quickly shows readers how humans intervene so nature can work her magic. For instance, in a Los Angeles schoolyard, a blacktop is removed and seeds are sown, as an oasis of wild flora invites a rare burrowing owl to take notice and move in. When migrating birds soar the Mississippi Flyway over Chicago, city dwellers adopt a voluntary Lights Out Chicago to protect the birds from artificial light distractions. These are only two examples of how Silverman showcases global environmental impacts of rewilding cities. Page by page, Silverman's poetic mastery shines as she leads readers into her well-crafted world of rhyme and scientific information. This good narrative incorporates awareness of empathy and learning that Hsu artfully captures in her brightly colored drawings that deftly complement the prose. VERDICT The concept of worldwide changes to better support urban wildlife is told through exquisite rhymes wrapped around big, bold blossoms of color that, along with the plentiful learning resources, will captivate readers. A must-have poetry book worthy of close attention.—Lyn Smith

School Library Journal

2024-01-20
With this poetry collection, Silverman and Hsu offer encouragement for those worried about the planet.

Vivid verse brings to life a variety of global efforts toward environmental stewardship and revitalization. Each piece offers a close observation of a regionally specific ecological problem and solution; a brief paragraph of text offers more information. “For the Bees” explores how the people of Oslo, Norway, created a “highway” made up of roof gardens and bee boxes to help honeybees, which face threats due to habitat loss and climate change. Another poem details how an initiative in Chicago resulted in people turning their lights off at night to help migrating birds. The result is a distilled portrayal of a world in crisis as well as an optimistic portrait of how a small handful of people, working together, can respond and avert crises. Though it’s clear that our planet faces grave danger, readers will come away feeling that positive change is within their grasp. In lesser hands, this work could have become heavy-handed, but it does what poetry does best: It captures small, meaningful moments with heart. This purposeful collection offers an entry point for deeper conversations about the human role in preservation and protection of the natural world. Hsu’s realistic yet whimsical full-color illustrations add a human touch and reflect diversity in skin tones throughout.

Upbeat conservationist verse. (how you can help, more to explore, resources for families and educators, children’s books celebrating city wildlife) (Picture book/poetry. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews