Rate this book

Forest Has A Song: Poems (2013)

by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater(Favorite Author)

4.22 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0618843493 (ISBN13: 9780618843497)

languge

English

genre

Poetry

publisher

Clarion Books

review 1: Beginning with an Invitation to visit the forest and ending with a Farewell that reminds you to remember it and return, poet Amy Vanderwater brings us twenty-six poems asking us to examine the forest closely and with a quiet reverence. She focuses on specific natural elements such as spiders, lichens, moss, spores, and squirrels. Some poems are simple with only two or three lines. Others have multiple verses. All are perfectly suited to young explorers. Vanderwater also uses many clever techniques to engage readers. Two poems use lines in italics to show a “conversation” between a child and a chickadee as well as mother and fledgling owl. Another uses the metaphor of a daily newspaper when looking at tracks and traces (“I stop to read/ the Forest News/in mud or falle... moren snow./Articles are printed/ by critters on the go.”)The poems cover a variety of seasons and Robbin Gourley’s simple watercolors offer beauty and support to the imagery-filled poems. Many of the poems ask questions or offer a perfect springboard for further discussion of personal connections or beg students to support their own responses. One such example is the poem, Bone Pile. (“I wonder/were you someone’s meal?/I wonder/were you old?/I wonder/did you freeze to death/last winter/in the cold?”) The book could easily be read aloud in one sitting with older elementary students but could also be parceled out, with certain poems read in different seasons or units of study. The book would fit well with outdoor studies of tracks and traces (Forest News, Fossil, Bone Pile, Home, Song) forest creatures (Chickadee, Proposal, Spider, First Flight, Waiting for Deer, Woodpecker, Squirrel, Colorful Actor), and plants/trees (April Waking, Lady’s Slipper, Moss, Wintergreen, Puff, Warning, Maples in October). This book would be an excellent addition to a collection at a nature center or outdoor education space.
review 2: This is a beautiful, watercolor-filled book of poetry for children, celebrating the voices of the forest, some melancholy like the frog looking for a mate, and some joyful like the owlet on his first flight. Wintergreen: "One bite of winter / lingers in a summer leaf. / Snowflakes fill my mouth"I heard the poet read at the recent TLA conference and her reading of First Flight and others from this, her first book, really moved me. It's a lovely ode to the forest through all the seasons! Happy last day of National Poetry Month! less

Download links for: Forest Has a Song: Poems

Advertising