Sidman Poetry

Book Review: Red Sings From Treetops: A Year in Colors.


Sidman, Joyce. 2009. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. Ill by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780547014944

1. Review of Book:
In Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors, Joyce Sidman writes a collection of poems about the different seasons of the year but uses colored words to describe the senses, feelings, or images one might experience during that season. Throughout she describes how each color personifies the season and highlights each color by using bold and colorful font. For instance when discussing fall she describes the color yellow by saying,

"Grows wheels
and lumbers
down the block,
blinking:
Warning-classrooms ahead."

The poems are then paired with Pamela Zagarenski's bright illustrations. In poems such as the one above, a big yellow school bus is pictured. Her illustrations also add to each poem and connect with children because they reflect the color and season being described. The illustrations show a whimsical character on each page floating through the seasons along with her pet dog, and she along with her surroundings almost look like they were pieced together to look like a collage filled with bright colors. The poems will get kids as young as 7 years old thinking and their senses and environment. After reading and hearing the poems read aloud several times children can and will begin to learn how to tap into their sensory imagery knowledge and begin to make connections with what Sidman envisions when she thinks of the colors of spring, summer, fall, and winter.

2. Classroom/Library Connection:
This book could be shared throughout the school year as each season is being experienced first hand. For instance, right before summer vacation the Summer poem could be shared aloud.

Summer
In SUMMER,
White clinks in drinks.
Yellow melts
everything it touches...
smells like butter,
tastes like salt.

As a follow up activity, each time a poem is read about a certain season during the year, children can try their hand at writing their own sensory and colorful poems about that season. After reading the poem about summer children can then try describing what they personally saw (including colors), smelled, felt, touched, and heard during their own experiences in summer.

3. Review Excerpts/Awards Won:
Claudia Lewis Award, 2010 Winner United States
Cybil Award, 2009 Winner Poetry United States
Minnesota Book Awards, 2010 Winner Children’s Literature United States
Randolph Caldecott Medal, 2010 Honor Book United States

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 3))
Describing seasons by colors is not an original concept, but this whimsical color calendar sparkles with creativity. Zagarenski's mixed-media paintings on wood and computer illustration have a European folk-art style. The described hues are block-highlighted in the text while the artwork details the imagery in the words. A woman and her white dog, both wearing paper crowns, wander through the four seasons, observing nature's palette: "In summer, / BLUE grows new names: / turquoise, / azure, / cerulean." A red bird flying across the pages becomes a continuity motif. In summer,RED is a delicate hummingbird; in fall, "RED swells / on branches bent low. /RED: crisp, juicy, / crunch!" In winter, "RED hops to treetops / ...begins to sing: / and each note drops / like a cherry / into / my / ear." The seasons flow into each other, bringing readers full circle. Fresh descriptions and inventive artistry are a charming inspiration to notice colors and correlate emotions. Details in the artwork will invite repeated readings and challenge kids to muse about other color icons.