Sidman, J. (2014). Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold. Ill. by Rick Allen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780547906508

PLOT SUMMARY

In Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold it depicts the various lives of animals and how they survive the bitter colds of the north. It includes reptiles, mammals, birds, invertebrates, a tree, and a plant. The author lets the reader know that winter is here by explaining how the snowflake trickles from the sky to ground. Everything nature!

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In the Snake’s Lullaby there is a creation of rhythm just as you would hear from a children’s lullaby or nursery rhyme. Personification is presented in Dream of the Tundra Swan in line 2, “and the cold came creeping” creating a scary feeling. In Snowflake Wakes in the second stanza you find alliteration, “leaps, and laughing” making the snowflake playful. The author also uses repetition in Big Brown Moose, “I’m a big brown moose,” following the lines explaining his personalities. In the illustrations throughout the book, in particularly the snowflakes, the illustrator provides the readers eyes with a delight (imagery), making the snowflakes seem they are dancing as they fall onto the ground.

REVIEW EXCERPT (S)

-HORN BOOK (2014) “Sidman exemplifies the survival strategies of a well-chosen sample of species. Her poems, as usual, are lovely -- precise, evocative, lyrical, varied in tone; relevant facts in succinct (separate) prose illuminate the imagery of each.”

-SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (2014) “Readers young and old will enjoy this winter journey and marvel at the wonders of nature.”

*Junior Library Guild Selections (Elementary Selection 2015)

*SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books (Commended 2016)

*Notable Children’s Book (Commended 2015)

CONNECTIONS

Writing across content: Science. Students could research specific animals, then write in a poetry like from their findings.

Other books to consider to assist are:

ALEXANDER, KWAME, HESS, R. MARY, NIKAIDO, DEANNA. ANIMAL ARK: CELEBRATING OUR WORLD IN POETRY AND PICTURES (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS) ISBN 9781426327674

BUILION, LESLIE. LEAF LITTLE CRITTERS. ISBN 9781561459506