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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.
toad_maiden's review against another edition
4.0
Sidman continues to excite me. As far as children's poetry goes, this is so effervescent and lyrical, without the corny humor and far-reaching whimsy that so often comes in the genre. Beautiful woodblock prints as well. This would be a well loved volume for a poetic-minded child.
samcarlin's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed these poems. They were beautiful and are really great if you read them aloud. The illustrations add to the overall feel of the story.
frankisib's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing writing. Love the NF poetry. A great mentor for student writing. I am not sure a student would pick this up on his/her own but in a classroom with conversations, this book would be perfect. Definitely one I'd use in writing workshop.
auntiel's review against another edition
3.0
The poems were okay, not what I would expect of a Newbery Honor book. The highlights of the book were the illustrations and the sidebar notes about the animals.
tealmango's review against another edition
3.0
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/latest-newbery-reads/
naughty_librarian's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully detailed lithograph illustrations capture woodland nightlife, accompanied by poetry and informative entries. A bit long for little ones, but pleasant bedtime reading for older children and adults.
greenbeanteenqueen's review against another edition
5.0
This book wasn't even on my radar until it won a Newbery Honor and I'm glad it won which forced me to pick it up and read it.
I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of poetry, but Ms. Sidman's poems are very enjoyable. She has a very lyrical style and I can easily see this poems being read aloud to all ages. The illustrations are detailed and done in a linoleum-block printmaking technique that stands out. It gives the illustrations a dark, atmospheric feel and you feel as though you are in the woods with the animals.
I liked that not only are there poems about animals, but the moon, trees, and plants. Accompanying each poem are short factual paragraphs about the subject of each poem. The information is never overwhelming and the author never talks down to the reader.
I would recommend to all ages and for readers of poetry and non-fiction. After devouring this collection of poems, I think it is very deserving on a Newbery Honor!
I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of poetry, but Ms. Sidman's poems are very enjoyable. She has a very lyrical style and I can easily see this poems being read aloud to all ages. The illustrations are detailed and done in a linoleum-block printmaking technique that stands out. It gives the illustrations a dark, atmospheric feel and you feel as though you are in the woods with the animals.
I liked that not only are there poems about animals, but the moon, trees, and plants. Accompanying each poem are short factual paragraphs about the subject of each poem. The information is never overwhelming and the author never talks down to the reader.
I would recommend to all ages and for readers of poetry and non-fiction. After devouring this collection of poems, I think it is very deserving on a Newbery Honor!
elllie's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to read this because the ACPL (Allen County Public Library, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) named it as one of their Mock Newbery Honor Books (http://acplkids.blogspot.com/2010/12/mock-newbery-winners.html). I have to say though, while the illustrations are nice and the poetry is fine (I'm not a big poetry person and this didn't grab me at all - however I did like the poem about the Baby Porcupette), it doesn't seem like Newbery material to me. The illustrations create much of the charm of the book, and if this book is relying on the images so much, shouldn't it be a Caldecott contender instead? I dunno, I guess we'll see next week!