Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems

Immensely talented children's poet Joyce Sidman joins forces with printmaker and naturalist Beckie Prange in this Caldecott Honor-winning picture book poetry collection. Eleven poems explore the lives of the residents of a pond in spring, summer and fall, with an informational paragraph about the flora and fauna in question accompanying each poem. Subjects range from wood ducks to cattails, and all are depicted in Prange's hand-colored woodcuts, with a glossary at the rear explaining some of vocabulary used in the text...

Awarded a 2006 Caldecott Honor, Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems is one of only three books Beckie Prange has illustrated, along with Joyce Sidman's subsequent Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors, and show more Phyllis Root's One North Star: A Counting Book, which she illustrated together with fellow Minnesotan artist Betsy Bowen. It's a shame her output in the world of books is so small, given how absolutely gorgeous her artwork is—I can certainly see why this one won the honors it did!—but I understand that her focus as an artist is in other areas. In any case, I enjoyed this one immensely, both for the woodcuts, but also for the poems themselves, which were expressive and nimbly worded. My favorites were the first one, Listen for Me, about spring peepers (tree frogs) and the eponymous Song of the Water Boatman and Backswimmer's Refrain, about the two insects in question. All in all, this was another wonderful poetry picture book from the author (I've loved everything I've read by her), as well as illustrator. Recommended to young poetry and nature lovers, as well as to those who appreciate fine woodcut illustrations. show less

Sidman is my new favorite poet, and my new favorite science-accessible-to-children author. That is to say, this book is glorious and I would buy it for grandkids & a classroom in a heartbeat. Thorough but concise explanations of life in a pond, coupled with inspiring, fun, prococative poems in a variety of styles. And Prange's art, oh my.

I'm not sure I like this *quite* as much as [b:Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors|7623958|Ubiquitous Celebrating Nature's Survivors|Joyce Sidman|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309894229s/7623958.jpg|10106657]. This one does get a tiny bit anthropomorphic and is just a little more simple. Still, considering that I'm over four decades more experienced, as a reader, than the target audience, and I show more was still both moved & educated, I absolutely recommend this. show less

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 5-Seasons set the stage for this celebration of the diverse life of ponds. The book begins with the poem, "Listen for Me," in which spring peepers wake from their winter hibernation and sing out, "Listen for me on a spring night,/on a wet night,/on a rainy night./…Listen for me tonight, tonight,/and I'll sing you to sleep." The melodic verse continues through summer with a cumulative poem that highlights the food chain of a pond, cattails in all seasons, and late fall when a painted turtle settles into the mud. Sidman employs several poetic forms, such as haiku and rhymed and unrhymed verse, and varied line structure, and her arrangement of the 11 poems is natural and exact. Each one is accompanied show more by a paragraph that provides scientific information about a specific creature, plant, or aspect of pond life. Prange's woodcuts are a natural accompaniment to these poetic compositions. The dark lines naturally contrast against watercolor hues that reflect the changing seasons. Beginning with subtle pastel shades of spring, tones gradually deepen through the lush colors of midsummer and conclude with subdued earthy browns and violet sunsets of early winter. Perspectives in illustrations shift from one poem to another, providing a unique depiction of the life below the water, on shore level, and in the surrounding reeds and trees. An organic union of poetry and science, this book encourages readers to ponder the minutiae and magnificent life of the natural world show less

Yep. Big fan. HUGE. I would have to say every poem put a smile on my face... and I love that many of the poems' topics hold memories of new learning for me. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest I have been introduced to cat tails, caddis flies, and my favorite: the Green Darner dragonfly! I have always loved dragonflies, but when I moved to Washington, I learned that the Green Darner is our state insect. What's even better is "Fly, Dragonfly" is written in a series of 3 haiku. My favorite form of poetry!!! This is definitely a book I am adding to my collection of poetry curriculum books.

This book is rich and beautiful. The illustrations are stunning woodcuts with watery jewel toned colors. The poems are delightful, lovely to read out loud. That it is also telling poems about real pond crashes and their lives makes this book truly stunning.

Wonderful poems that take you to the live of a pond from spring to the begging of autumn. I like the fact that each poems was connected to a science explanation of the animal and the kids were able to learn about them. I even learn about new animals that i never heard of like water boatman, backswimmer how they both have boat-shaped bodies however the backswimmer spends its life on its back.

This informational book is written in an interesting way. It features animals and insects that live in a pond habitat. I liked this book for 2 reasons. One reason is that I like the organization of it. For each animal or insect the author writes a poem and to make this book more information rich the author has added an extra textual feature in the form of paragraphs on the side of the pages. The variation of how the information is presented kept me wanting to read more.
I also liked the captivating poems that provided humor. One example is from the poem called, “Diving Beetle’s Food Sharing Rules,” that reads, “In short, if it moves, it is mine. If it’s anywhere near me, it is mine. If I’m hungry (and I’m always hungry), it show more is mine, mine, mine.”
For an informational book the information is not very in depth. For instance, there are no actual photographs, only paintings. Also, none of the illustrations include diagrams or labels, however considering the little amount of text there is I was pleases with the new information that I learned such as that dragonflies are actually born and raised in water. show less