| Title | : | Dark Emperor \u0026 Other Poems of the Night |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0547152280 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780547152288 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 32 |
| Publication | : | First published September 6, 2010 |
| Awards | : | Newbery Medal (2011) |
Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze,
come smell your way among the trees,
come touch rough bark and leathered leaves:
Welcome to the night.
Welcome to the night, where mice stir and furry moths flutter. Where snails spiral into shells as orb spiders circle in silk. Where the roots of oak trees recover and repair from their time in the light. Where the porcupette eats delicacies—raspberry leaves!—and coos and sings.
Come out to the cool, night wood, and buzz and hoot and howl—but do beware of the great horned owl—for it’s wild and it’s windy way out in the woods!
This Newbery Honor-winning picture book combines beautifully written poetry with facts of the forest and elaborate illustrations to form a marvelously engaging collection.
Dark Emperor \u0026 Other Poems of the Night Reviews
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Gorgeous! Beautiful illustrations by Rick Allen and lovely poems by Sidman. A Caldecott possibility, I think. Each poem deals with a different aspect of the night, and on the opposite page is a paragraph of factual information about night creatures and plants. The title poem, "Dark Emperor," is a shape poem about the owl--clever! I actually learned a few things from this book. For example, I didn't know that a baby porcupine is called a porcupette. I also didn't know that trees were active at night. I can't say which was my favorite poem--I loved them all. This is definitely a book I'll want for my personal collection, and for my library as well. Beautifully, artfully put together--a masterpiece!
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A stunningly illustrated, excellent collection of poems about creatures of the night
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Some poems were better than others. I especially loved the Spider poem.
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1.Poetry
2. This poetry collection by Joyce Sidman is a beautiful description of the night through the plants and animals that call it home. The poems are a tribute to nocturnal creatures like the owl, the snail, and the cricket. Even plants like trees and mushrooms are highlighted as they move and grow through the darkness.
3.A. Format/Layout B. The author organizes the twelve poems in this collection as if the reader is traveling through the night from the first hint of darkness to the morning light. C. The collection is introduced by the poem, “Welcome to the Night” and concludes with another entitled, “Moon’s Lament.” In between, poems are used to describe the primrose moth, the night spider and a baby porcupette. Some are written with end rhyme while others are in free-verse, but each creates a mood of quiet stillness. Each poem is written on the right side of a two page layout with informational text written on the left to further explain and clarify the creatures and their nightly habitats. A brief glossary is also at the end of the book and is another example of the author’s skill at blending the beauty and creativity of poetry with the information of non-fiction.
4. All the poems in this collection could be used to introduce an elementary science unit. As the class studies nocturnal animals, a poem could be read each day. Students may also want to write their own poems about other nocturnal animals or work in groups to find some in other poetry collections. -
Our oldest loves owls and is in a poetry-writing frenzy right now, so when I saw this book at our local library, I just knew that it would be great for her. The poems are short, fun to read aloud and many of them rhyme. I loved the poem about the owl and how the poem itself took the shape of an owl. Also, both fascinating and educational are the little snippets of information about each poem's topic that expounds a little on the subject without being overly detailed or boring.
We loved
Rick Allen's linoleum cuts and wood engraving print illustrations that really conveyed the mysterious and shadow-filled wonders of the night. Our girls had fun pointing out the eft on each page as we marveled at the pictures. We really enjoyed reading this book together and took our time, only reading a couple of poems each night. -
The poems were fine. The art was beautiful. I liked the "science" explanations in conjunction with the poems.
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This is a picture book written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen. It won the Newberry Honor Book of 2011.
This is a beautiful book of poems that explain the nocturnal world. The book contains a poem on one page and facts about the forest on the opposite page. There is a poem of a spider on one page, “Night-Spider’s Advice,” the opposite page has facts about spiders. It explains how spiders build their webs, the different insects they hunt, among other important facts. There are poems and facts about bats, mushrooms, crickets, etc.
The illustrator used linoleum cuts, wood engraving, and broadsheets. The illustrations contain black thick lines and dark colors. There is texture and composition that create balance.
The book is recommended for children 6-9 years-old. Teachers can use it as a read out loud or book project.
Sources:
BarnesandNoble.com and Children and Youth literature class. -
Nice poems and also very educational and informative.
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I'm (very slowly) trying to read all the Newbery Medal winners and Honor Books, and this was a Newbery Honor Book for 2011. But I must admit I bought it just because of that cover. What a powerful image! And the artwork between the covers is wonderful, too. Even the Table of Contents page is colorful and fun to look at.
The book sticks to a strict pattern of poetry on the left-hand page, and on the right, a short lesson about the outdoor world at night. I learned quite a lot from those lessons. Some of the poetry rhymes, some doesn't. Some of it is simple and some is a bit more intricate. It's all very intriguing, and should appeal to readers of all ages. But I'm thinking it might be better for younger children to read with an adult — someone to explain the more unfamiliar words, and point out things a child might miss (like the fact that, in the poem about the "Dark Emperor," the text is actually shaped like a stylized owl). -
This is a beautifully illustrated book of poetry. The illustrations “were made by a process of relief painting. A drawing or sketch is transferred onto a block of wood or…sheet of linoleum mounted on wood, and the drawing is then cut and carved away using a variety of tools. The areas left uncut are covered with ink and printed on paper by hand or on a press.” The outcome is a lavishly detailed picture shadowed with soft light that mimics twilight, dawn or a delicate moonlight evening. The relief paintings are inviting and colorful, already reimaging night for young children as a place of great activity and welcome instead of place of silence and fright. This book would complement a science unit on the animals and plants of the forest. Each poem focuses on a creature (the raccoon, the snail, the spider) or a plant (mushrooms, oak tree), explaining lyrically information about it. On the opposite page, the author includes additional scientific facts and details that further illuminate the poems and pictures. For example, we learn that a scientist named A.E. Dolbear once figured out a formula that calculates the outside temperature based on how a fast a cricket sings with his wings. I would recommend this book of poems for children between three and ten. Younger children can enjoy the poems and the illustrations; they may not want to sit through the longer scientific explanations. The illustrations are vivid enough to serve as inspirations for younger readers own stories and poems. Younger readers can glean “lessons” or “advice” from these night voices like the cricket’s compulsion to “sing, sing, till the branches tremble and life swells to a single searing unstoppable sound.” Many children will recognize their own need for passionate and creative self-expression in the cricket’s voice. Older children certainly will enjoy the poems and pictures; however, they also will learn a great deal from the included science, matching the poetic images to the hard facts. Moreover, older readers may discuss some of the more philosophical elements of the poems like the wandering eft’s (a type of newt or salamander) conclusion that life is “rov[ing] till you’re weary, then return[ing] to the pond, where you’ll dream of your life as an eft vagabond.” In this image, older children may see the classic archetype of life as a cycle, where death is a type of return to a dream-state. The poems also hold lessons on literary terms like alliteration, metaphor, assonance or consonance. A teacher can use the text in this way as well, asking students to write their own night poems using some of these techniques. Joyce Sidman’s poems are good mentor text candidates. For all readers, I think this book wonderfully redefines nighttime as a world worth exploring instead of avoiding out of fear and misunderstanding.
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Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night, what an intriguing title! Joyce Sidman’s poetry and Rick Allen’s illustrations capture the reader’s attention from the front cover and every page there after. As the title indicates each poem eloquently describes the nocturnal creatures we daytime creatures don’t often pay attention to (snail, owl, eft and even a tree).
Sidman chose her words wisely to convey the beauty of the night. The twelve poems starting with sunset and ending with sunrise are written in various poetry forms, some in rhyming couplets and others in free verse.
“The night’s a sea of dappled dark,
the night’s a feast of sound and spark,
the night’s a wild, enchanted park.
Welcome to the night!”
The poetry is written on the left page of this landscape-style book. Illustrations are wisely placed on the right page along with additional interesting information about that creature. I especially enjoyed Night-Spider’s Advice. Sidman captured the voice of the wise orb spider, “Use what you have. Rest when you need to. Dawn will come soon enough. Someone has to remake the world each night. It might as well be you.” I learned from the additional information that most orb spiders eat their damaged webs. There is a helpful glossary of terms at the end of the book. It is clear how this book won the ALA Notable Book for 2011. However, I feel there should be an author’s note that gives additional information about what poetic form each poem is. I feel this was a missed opportunity to inform readers new to poetry with her beautiful examples.
Allen’s gouache illustrations are so well drawn the reader can almost feel the texture of the owl’s fur or the bark of the trees. Each illustration was colorful but set in heavy dark trimmed outline contrasting the dappled blue night.
Novelist Plus suggests a Lexile reading rate of 1020 (6th grade) and a grade level of K-3rd grade. The classroom uses of this text are numerous. It could be read aloud to younger children and the term nocturnal discussed. In addition, the habitat of the creatures discussed can be drawn as a response to reading. Students could use this text as a culminating study of poetry forms. After reading each poem aloud a discussion of it’s form can be discussed and the class as a whole can determine what form it portrays. Additional lessons can be found on the author’s webpage
http://www.joycesidman.com/darkempero...
Students’ interested in the poetry and science facts might also enjoy, Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems also by Sidman but illustrated by Beckie Prange. -
A skilled blend of poetry, nonfiction, and illustrations. My feelings about it winning the Newbery? Eh. My strongest reasons for liking it (illustrations and educational value) are not supposed to be Newbery criteria, so I don't think it's all that strong of a contender. A similar book with a stronger set of poems would be
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. -
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night
By Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Rick Allen
2011 Newbery Honor Book
“To all of you who crawl and creep,
who buzz and chirp and hoot and peep,
who wake at dusk and throw off sleep;
Welcome to the night.”
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night is a nature themed book that combines poems, illustrations and nonfiction notes on the creatures and things that appear in the poem and illustrations. The combination of these three parts creates a wonderful whole that describes and explains the nature in a way that enhances understanding, awareness, and appreciation for the myriad of forest creatures and things from bats to mushrooms to moonlight. This was an interesting, but good choice as a Newbery Honor Book, as that it is a combination of poetry, pictures, and nonfiction, which are usually left out of the Newbery awards. This book would be a great read aloud for children in first and second grade, and would be a good independent read for children from grades 2-4. Early elementary school teachers will find this book to be a great way to introduce nature themes in science that deal with animals from owls to newts. Read the whole book to inform and inspire discussion about the environment, or read just one poem to focus on a particular amphibian -Red Efts or arachnid. This book serves as a great introduction into both nature and poetry and would be great to read in the classroom or at home. -
Sometimes I get a craving for a specific type of children’s poetry: the old-fashioned kind about animals or weather that features antiquated words and traditional poetic structures. Poems like these are straightforwardly educational as opposed to poems that are written as if from a child’s perspective that always seem a little false-either too precious or too self-consciously ironic. There’s something charming and quaint to me about how children are taught about animals or trees as if they were subjects of vital importance like addition and reading. Poems like these remind me of the primary grade school years. There’s a blend of curiosity and confidence that are the hallmarks of that age.
This collection is about the activities of the night, and the poems are arranged so that they flow from dusk to dawn. One of my favorites is about what an oak tree does during the night:
“Oak After Dark”
As nighttime rustles at my knee,
I stand in silent gravity
And quietly continue chores
of feeding leaves and sealing pores.
While beetles whisper in my bark,
while warblers roost in branches dark,
I stretch my roots into the hill
and slowly, slowly drink my fill.
A thousand crickets scream my name,
yet I remain the same, the same.
I do not rest, I do not sleep,
And all my promises I keep:
to stand while all the seasons fly,
to anchor earth,
to touch the sky. -
Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen
This book of poetry mainly talks about creatures of the night. The first poem of the book is entitled: Welcome to the Night, a rhyming poem that introduces how the nocturnal world wakes. But it's more than that, just reading this part of the poem you would not get the fact that it is referring to a raccoon coming from his home in a hollow tree looking for food. However one feature I really enjoyed from the book is that the writer gives a brief synapsis of every poems character. The poem is delivered on one side of the page and a brief synapsis on the other. Another feature I like about this book of poetry is the glossary. It gives a simple definition of words that may not be familiar to the reader. I had to look up the type of painting because I didn't know how to describe them in my own words. They are "bold, richly detailed linoleum prints colored in a gouache (opaque watercolor)."
I would recommend this book be used with grades 1-4. Several things could be taught using this book of poetry, Rhyming words, and compare and contrast. It would also be a nice read aloud with younger students in which the teacher could read the poem without saying the title and have students predict what creature of the night the poem is referring. -
An absolutely splendid book. I actually like the illustrations a little more than the poetry but only just. It would be a wonderful book to read with a child, but also makes a great addition to your nature poem collection no matter your age.
The poems are very short and sweet explorations of nocturnal flora and fauna. They are all good, but a few shine above the rest. I also really enjoy how educational they are, teaching about the subject of the poem without being boring. There are plenty of fun words and turns of phrase to keep both kiddies and word geeks like me happy.
Rick Allen's linoleum print illustrations are beyond gorgeous. It's like getting a fine art book and poetry book in one! As both a poet and artist myself, I'm more than thrilled with this, though it leaves me in a quandary as to which shelf to put it on. Each print has such depth and character and the more time you spend gazing at them the more you find! Kids and detail oriented adults alike will love finding all the hidden creatures in each print.
The book also has a short paragraph on each page providing more information about the subjects of the poems, which makes it not only a poetry and art book but an informative nature book as well. -
1. Poetry - Junior Book.
2. This book provides poetry about certain animals that come out in the dark and are nocturnal animals. The author gives great poems, but also provides facts on these animals for those who are curious.
3.a. Extra information
b. The information provided to the reader on the animals that are presented in the poems is great. Often times those who read poems about animals, want to understand more and this provides that starting point.
c.I feel as if the information allows students and readers to not only read poetry, but to learn about animals as well. Students would like to understand exactly why crickets make the noises they do and why they do not fly (p.21). This poetry book can provide that!
4. I feel that this book can be used in both an english classroom as well as a science classroom where students are learning about nocturnal animals. The poetry provides imagery for the students to try and picture in their minds. The images provide those actual pictures, and the information provides a connection to the science curriculum. -
These topical nature poems are accompanied by informational text on the opposite page. The design makes this parallel text not distracting. Rick Allen's lino-cut illustrations are remarkable, mostly because of the description of his three-block process. This is painstaking work. I appreciate all the work of Sidman's to make this many poems just right, too. This is one of the situations where I can see 50/50 being a fair deal.
The poems have a clear sense of each night animal having been observed closely to see what there is to notice. I thought "Dark Emperor" was a bit of an exaggeration, because of how much that phrase makes one think of fantasy or science fiction villains. But the poem was still well done and matched well with the illustration.
While I generally think it's a bad idea to illustrate a poem collection, Sidman seems to have a good way of collaborating with illustrators and she is writing expressly to be illustrated. It's not like taking Emily Dickinson or Edna St. Vincent Millay and trying to improve their poems with pictures. -
LOVE LOVE LOVE
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Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman is a book of poems about things in nature that seem to come to life in the nighttime, including nocturnal animals, trees that take in extra water through their roots at night, the moon, and more.
I liked that while all of the poems were written by the same author, each one is unique. For example, the first poem has a repeating line, "Welcome to the moon," at the end of each stanza. The poem "Dark Emperor" about a mouse that runs from the great horned owl is a concrete poem in the shape of a mouse head.
I also loved that on the left page is a poem and on the right page is a detailed illustration and an informational blurb explaining more about the subject of the poem on the left. Because of this, I imagine using this book in a science unit about nocturnal animals. If students were studying one of the animals that is a subject of a poem, they would get a lot details from the informational piece accompanying the poem. -
Description: Dark Emperor is a collection of a dozen poems about the night. There is a poem about about a spider, a porcupette, mushrooms, an eft, an owl, a bat, the moon, moths, fungi, etc.
Curriculum Connection: Comprehension. 4.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of poetry. Have the students write a poem about an animal or anything that interest them.
Personal Reaction: I loved the poem about the primose moth because I had never heard about this particular species.
Visual Appeal: Rick Allen used a method called relief printing to make the gorgeous illustrations. He uses two page spreads to show the poem, an illustration, a column of well-written prose that gives the details of the subject of the facing poem.
Genre: Picture Book/Poetry
Intended Audience: Ages 6-9 -
A stunning book. Marriage of beautiful, well-crafted poetry in which every word enriches and adds pepper and spice; thoughtfully written descriptive nonfiction with facts about nocturnal animals, appropriate for a child reader; gorgeous, gorgeous block prints colored with gouache (there's even a description of the artist's process in the CIP data); and a charming red eft (a young, wandering newt) to carry us through a night in the woods. This is a truly unique package, and a masterful follow-up to Sidman's "Song of the Water Boatman."
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Wow, just wow! This is an amazing work of art, the way the poems and the illustrations work together. The ballad of the wandering eft is pretty amazing, but each poem brings something different and new. I am not surprised this won a Newbery honor
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It is Joyce Sidman's year. I cannot decide which title I like better, Dark Emperor or Ubiquitous. Could she nab multiple prizes? Caldecott? (she's not the illustrator) Siebert? Lee Bennett Hopkins Award for Poetry?
I re-read it in 2014. (Originally read it on December 5, 2010.) -
What an excellent book. Combo of poetry and science education with wonderful illustrations - printed.
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BEAUTIFUL. MESMERIZING. HAUNTING.
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Category/Genre: Poetry/Picture Book
Copyright Date: 2010
Estimate of age level of interest: Grades 3 - 6
Estimate of reading level: Grade 6
Brief description:
In this book poems of the mystery, beauty, (and sometimes danger) of a woods night alternate with relief prints colorfully painted with gouache and facts of the forest.
Two characteristics of poetry/picture books that appear in this book:
1. The fall and rise of night is marked by 12 poems. The poems are a mixture of lyrical and free verse. As is common in children's poetry, the verse is descriptive rather than metaphorical. Each piece brings to life a slice of night in the forest.
2. Another characteristic of children's poetry seen in this book is the combination of poetry and illustration. In this case, colorful relief prints bring to life the image described within each poem. As a picture book of poetry, the layout itself has a kind of rhythm to it as each two-page-spread brings a highly structured poem on the left, negative space then filled with vibrant illustration, bordered by a factual narrative of the wildlife pictured to the right. This pattern repeats itself starting with poetry of the forest at dusk and ending with the forest at dawn.
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?:
The combination of engaging illustration and descriptive (rather than figurative) poetry reaches out to the intended elementary-level audience well. In addition to the style of poetry, the subject is also one that is likely to pique the interest of young readers. Night is often a source of unease and at times fear for young children. The poetry in this book provide children with a safe glimpse into an unknown world.
Awards:
ALA Notable Children's Books
Newbery Honor
Published reviews from professional sources:
Booklist, 2010
Horn Book Magazine, 2011
Publishers Weekly, 2010
School Library Journal, 2010
