Module 5- Sidman Poetry

Sidman, Joyce, Allen, Rick ill. Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. ISBN 978-0-547-15228-8

Review:
Joyce Sidman's Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night celebrates woodland creatures of the night. Each poem is accompanied by facts about nocturnal creatures mentioned in the poems. A glossary is included at the end of the book. Allen cleverly depicts the creatures of the night in darkened lino cut prints representing their habitats. He also includes a wandering red eft throughout the book which accompanies the poem "Ballad of the Wandering Eft". It is a very inventive way to weave the poetry and illustrations together throughout the book. The poem "Welcome to the Night" uses the repeated refrain "welcome to the night" and a rhyming pattern for each stanza (stanza 1-AAA, stanza 2-BBB, stanza 3- CCC, and stanza 4-DDD). The words not only rhyme, but some also utilize onomatopoeia ( buzz, chirp, hoot, rough, etc). Sidman also includes the senses-touch, feel, and smell, "Come feel the cool.../come smell your way.../come touch rough bark..." This book would complement lessons in science on habitats, nocturnal creatures, and literature. A definite plus for every classroom library.

Introduction:
Have pictures of a streetlight, owl, worms, sunset, moon, bat, shady/dark woods, opossum, raccoon, bat, etc (things associated with night). Have students try to find out what all of these things have in common. They are related to night or nocturnal animals. Then read and display the poem and illustration. Share the informational passage as well with students and discuss creatures of the night and their habitat.

Poem: excerpt from Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Welcome to the Night by Joyce Sidman

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.

To you who make the forest sing,
who dip and dodge on silent wing,
who flutter, hover, clasp, and cling:
Welcome to the night!

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.

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!

Extension:
To link these poems  and illustrations to science curriculum, use the aspect of camouflage. Many nocturnal animals use camouflage to hide from predators. To help students understand camouflage, use the following activity with students:
use a colorfully decorated wrapping paper as the background- save some of the paper to use later
cut out animal shapes using a solid color piece of construction paper and the left over wrapping paper
glue the animal shapes on the wrapping paper background
Students will try to find all of the animals on the paper (the wrapping paper cut-outs will be harder to identify due to camouflage). Have students write about how camouflage can be helpful to nocturnal creatures.