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shighley's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderful book. I had not heard of it until I saw it on a Mock Newbery list. The poems are wonderfully constructed, the illustrations are fascinating, and the book encompasses animals, plant, fungi, and even the moon. This book could have many applications to use with students. Next time I'm outside at night, I'll be thinking about the many things going on. And, I'd never heard that a "porcupette" was a young porcupine before.
dougsasser's review against another edition
3.0
This is for young readers. It combines poems, scientific facts and artwork (reminiscent of a hid a picture) to describe the nighttime woods.
littlebookjockey's review against another edition
3.0
I like how this book has facts alongside poetry; it educates while it enchants.
jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition
5.0
Each look reveals new, fabulous details: the dusk and dawn double-page spreads that begin and end the book. The eft, a newt-like creature, that stars in his own poem ("Come all you young efts,/ so brave and so bold") but creeps onto each page, even the verso. The fact that the illustrations are made by the process of relief printing - "there are definitely faster methods of making a picture, but few more enjoyable in a backwards sort of way." The richness of the poems - a compelling combination of ordinary and grand, from the "perched missile" of the great horned owl to "the tiny hiccup/ of my heart" described by the fleeing mouse. The way information - both necessary and fun - has been condensed for the unobstrusive sidebars, tucked next to the illustrations in a smaller print than the poems.
May 2017 - I wasn't sure if we'd make it through the whole thing at bedtime, but we did, and Ben was engrossed with all the noctural creatures and kept interrupting the poems to ask questions, which made the sidebar info handy. He wanted to know exactly what each animal ate.
May 2017 - I wasn't sure if we'd make it through the whole thing at bedtime, but we did, and Ben was engrossed with all the noctural creatures and kept interrupting the poems to ask questions, which made the sidebar info handy. He wanted to know exactly what each animal ate.
azajacks's review against another edition
5.0
I support independent bookstores. You can use this link to find one near you: http://www.indiebound.org
jaclynhyde's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely poetry book that pairs poems about nocturnal flora and fauna with informational paragraphs about the subjects. The poetry never feels like simply a means to the end of teaching about nature; the poems are nicely rhythmic and imaginative*, with the informational paragraphs giving more context. Ballad of the Wandering Eft is my personal favorite--it's a great example of how the information enriches the poetry. Also of note are the gorgeous illustrations, which are beautifully atmospheric.
*I am not really a poetry fan in general, so I have no idea how to describe it--these poems are better than my description makes them sound!
*I am not really a poetry fan in general, so I have no idea how to describe it--these poems are better than my description makes them sound!
margaretann84's review against another edition
4.0
The art is beautiful! The spider poem is definitely my favorite, but the others are pretty good, too.
faeriedrumsong's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful!
One of my pet peeves about how nighttime is represented in art, is that it is always so DARK. I do understand that to the eye used to city lights the night is dark, but the moon and stars can be very bright, and the colors of day are still there.
The art in this book uses thick black outlines to give us shadow surrounding the core of color to beautiful effect.
The poems are intriguing, too. They are just short enough, and just long enough. They have just the right amount of big words. They are practically perfect in every way. Granted, I am not extremely knowledgeable about poetry, but I know I like this a lot. I know that reading the poems made me really interested in the nonfiction text on the opposite page. This is another surprising thing to me. I usually dont like it when people try to teach me something sneakily when they are supposed to be entertaining. Going just by a textbook description (one page of poetry with the facing page illustration and nonfiction information on the same topic) it sounds really sneaky and not good. But it IS good! The poems are so good at characterization, that reading the non fic almost felt like watching the special features of a movie you really like. More info for those who just dont want to let go yet. :~)
One of my pet peeves about how nighttime is represented in art, is that it is always so DARK. I do understand that to the eye used to city lights the night is dark, but the moon and stars can be very bright, and the colors of day are still there.
The art in this book uses thick black outlines to give us shadow surrounding the core of color to beautiful effect.
The poems are intriguing, too. They are just short enough, and just long enough. They have just the right amount of big words. They are practically perfect in every way. Granted, I am not extremely knowledgeable about poetry, but I know I like this a lot. I know that reading the poems made me really interested in the nonfiction text on the opposite page. This is another surprising thing to me. I usually dont like it when people try to teach me something sneakily when they are supposed to be entertaining. Going just by a textbook description (one page of poetry with the facing page illustration and nonfiction information on the same topic) it sounds really sneaky and not good. But it IS good! The poems are so good at characterization, that reading the non fic almost felt like watching the special features of a movie you really like. More info for those who just dont want to let go yet. :~)
pkadams's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic art and fantastic poetry. I understand why it won one of the awards earlier this month. I really enjoyed reading it. If you have a chance to read it and peruse the art work you won't be disappointed.