Poetry by Joyce Sidman, Illustrations by Beckie Prange

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

This collection of poems explores a wide variety of living organisms through poetry and non-fiction. Each entry in the book includes a poem about the organism as well as a paragraph of interesting facts and information about it. The entries begin with the oldest living organism, bacteria, and continue in order of oldest to newest, with the final entry being humans. Other entries include everything from sharks to ants to grass. According to the author's note, 99 percent of species ever to exist are now extinct and this book intends to celebrate those that have survived and thrived despite the odds. 

This poetry collection provides an interesting combination of poetry and non-fiction. The poems give insight into the perspectives of the individual organisms, while the collection as a whole emphasizes a bigger picture - that humans have only been around for a tiny fraction of the earth's history while many other living organisms have been here, evolving and flourishing, long before us.

It would be great to pair with science lessons but could also be applicable for other topics. Additionally, it could be a good book to recommend to a child who is really into animals, insects, and science. 

Recommended for 2nd through 6th grade.

Resources:

Ubiquitous Reading Guide for Teachers (provided by Joyce Sidman)

Joyce Sidman reading "The Ants"

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.