Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, Joyce. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Ill. by Rick Allen. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2010. ISBN:978-0-547-15228-8

SUMMARY

Come and discover the secrets of the night through Joyce Sidman’s lyrical poetry and the exquisite art of Rick Allen in Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Night will capture and lead you through the secret events that unfold as daytime sleepers awaken in the forest. You will hear a spider’s wisdom, listen to crickets’ songs build to a crescendo, and witness the silent mushrooms rising from the forest floor. Each poem will reveal the beauty of nature found in the forest under the gentle protection of night. All poems will call you to return and enjoy the mystical world that wakens while the rest of the world sleeps.

ANALYSIS

Joyce Sidman skillfully weaves words into poetry that reveal the nightlife in a forest. Her poetry ranges from free verse, to couplets, to quatrains. Rhyming, rhythmic, and repeating lines or phrases are scattered throughout the book. Each poem is unique in both format and subject, but all poems together create an impressive image of the forest when darkness falls.

Her first poem "Welcome to the Night" sends a warm welcome to the stirring forest animals: "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."  The poem continues, using descriptions that create the movement of animals as they rise from their daytime slumber, and the line, "Welcome to the night," ends each quatrain. In the following poems, her words continue to flow from the page. A snail is a "Shell-maker/Moon-maker/gleaming silver-bright." A tiny mouse honors the great horned owl in a shape poem. The shape takes on the form of an owl, and outside the reach of his talons we see "the tiny hiccup of my heart as I flee" when the mouse, filled with hope, quickly departs the owl's presence.

A great tree finds itself in a poem made of rhyming couplets that give magnificence to the mighty tree. A suggestion of Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" subtly concludes the poem when the tree reflects, "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."

Rick Allen's art debuts in this book. Beautiful relief print illustrations grace the beauty of each poem, the pictures as carefully and intricately created as the poems they complement. Along with his artwork, each poem includes a brief, wonderfully written informative passage to provide facts about each poem's subject.  At the book's end, readers will find a small glossary of terms found in the book. Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night is a classic to include in a poetry lover's collection of fine poetry.

AWARDS

John Newbery Medal, 2010: Finalist, United States

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2011: Honor Book

Cybil Award, 2010: Finalist, United States

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 2011: Honor Book Picture Book, United States

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY

The poems in this book call out to be shared in a science lesson or unit on adaptations. A fun poem to read with the students is "The Mushrooms Come."

From moss and loam

the mushrooms come.

From bark on trees,

from crumbling logs,

from musty leaves,

the mushrooms come...

As the poem continues, have the students read in chorus "the mushrooms come," while other students take turns reading individual lines. Feel the beat to the poem and have a student sound it out with a soft drumming. Reading this poem aloud with many students will certainly give the feeling of mushrooms slowly and steadily populating the forest floor.

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Cover illustration. Internet on-line.  Retrieved on April 14, 2013 from http:// http://www.flr.follett.com/search?SID=cb05aae0609482338b0720ef2912133c