I promised myself that I was going to participate in Poetry Friday every week in 2017. Unfortunately, I had to do a presentation this morning, and wasn't quite ready, so I spent last night and this morning pulling that together.
Even though I'm too late for Poetry Friday, it's still Friday, so I'm having my own poetry party! Today I'm featuring one of the books that got away, a CYBILS nominee that provoked lots of discussion, but didn't quite make the cut.
NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON'T: Poems about Creatures that Hide is David L. Harrison's newest book. Poems are divided into five sections- sea life, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, insects and spiders, and birds. End notes include an informational paragraph about each of the 19 featured animals. Giles La Roche's 3D collage illustrations are sure to fascinate young readers.
These poems and paragraphs would be terrific mentor texts for young scientists and poets!
From the section about sea life…
"Ghost Crab"
List of words
ghost crabs know
danger, freeze,
blend, slow,
look, run,
stop, go.
Sea, food,
wave, tide,
eat, fast,
scurry, hide,
dig, hole,
dive, inside.
Gull, danger,
sand, white,
disappear,
plain, sight,
sun, burn,
safe, night
From the mammal section…
"Polar Beer"
Seal, be wary
of the bear.
It's white on white
against the glare
when snow sparkles
the frosty air.
Seal, be watchful,
have a care.
Beside the hole,
it's waiting there.
Dive! Escape
the great white bear!
From the insect section
Crab Spider
Spider used
a bloom to hide it
until a fly
flew down beside it.
Then with spider's
aptitude
the buzzy fly
became fast food.
Fellow Denverite, Linda Baie, is hosting POETRY FRIDAY over at Teacher Dance. Head over there for a lot of great poetry.
There were so many marvelous books this year, and this is one of them. I do love the brisk poems and the illustrations are so good to make those reading "see" (or not) the ways animals hide. Glad you sneaked in, Carol.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic collection of poems! I love books that present information to young readers in new and exciting ways, like combining animal adaptations and poetry! As well as teaching children animals facts, books like this can inspire them to think outside the box with their own writing!
ReplyDeleteLooks terrific, lots of kid appeal!
ReplyDeleteThe poems you quote are so much fun and leave a yen to read more! It's nice to see a book that got away from the Cybils featured. Wishing you all the best as you seek to keep your Poetry Friday resolution.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen this book yet, but it looks wonderful. What a great topic to explore in poems.
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