Red Sings From Treetops:
A Year In Colors
Written by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
1. Bibliography
Sidman, Joyce. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year In Colors. Ill New York
2. Plot Summary
Red Sings from Treetops is a beautiful book of poems that takes you through the seasons of the year. Each poem highlights a color in a season. Sidman cleverly uses adjectives and elements such as alliteration to bring her poems to life. One such example is the Blue poem in the Spring time. “Blue needs sun. Blue hides. Then, suddenly, sparkling spring sky!” The poems are brilliantly illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, who shows colorful triangular shaped people interacting with nature in each season. The pictures are often the color of the poem or contain elements of each poem. Once you start reading the first poem you won’t want to stop!
3. Critical Analysis
This clever book of poetry written by Sidman contains poems written about the different colors that are prominent in each season of the year. Sidman uses adjectives and alliteration to bring each color to life. Her words roll off the tongue like honey, smooth and sweet. Each poem has its own rhythm, with short lines that create a fast staccato beat. She also uses repetition of work endings such as the “ing” ending and occasional rhyming words in her poems. The poems sound almost musical and the words make the reader feel as if they are living in each season.
Once you start reading the poems you don’t want to stop. It takes a second reading just to notice all that’s happening in the pictures. Zagarenski uses mixed media paintings and computer illustrations to portray the images of each poem. Collages and painting on wood are among the mixed media pages. The characters in this poem are silent people with triangular shaped bodies. They wear crowns and hats on their heads and are shown outside interacting with the colors of the seasons. There is also a little white dog with brown spots that follows the characters throughout the book. The beautiful pictures help the reader image and visualize the words of the poems.
4. Review Excerpts
2010 Caldecott Honor Book
2010 ALA Notable Children’s Book
Booklist The Best of Editors’ Choice 2009
Bulletin Blue Ribbons 2009, Nonfiction
2009 Horn Book Fanfare List
Horn Book (starred review)-"A poet known for multi layered explorations of nature rejoices here in the way colors, and how we perceive them, change with the seasons . . .[with] the playfulness of the text and its sense of awe, mystery, and beauty."
New York Times-"Joyce Sidman’s language is vivid and deft . . . [it] draws mystery and magic around the most familiar scenes."
Kirkus, (starred review)-"Fresh descriptions and inventive artistry are a charming inspiration to notice colors and correlate emotions."
Bulletin (starred review)-"Talented poet Sidman fluidly moves from image to image, wittily personifying colors . . . the book has a freshness and visual impact all its own, and it will inspire a rainbow of uses."
Booklist (starred review)-"Succeeding seasons offer . . . opportunities for the colors to spread their particular magic . . . . And as the title implies, the colors that surprise on every page do sing."
5. Connections
Use this book of poetry to teach young children about colors. Read a different color poem each day or when each color is studied.
Have the students make color poems of their own using the seasons as inspiration. Each student can pick a color and season and make a poem. Then the poems can be collected and put together as a book.
Read other poetry books about colors. Compare the poems and pick some favorites to talk about the words that help create visual imagery or movies in your mind. The poems might have to be read a few times before the students can pick out the words that help them visualize the color or scene.
Color Me a Rhyme: Nature Poems for Young People by Jane Yolen ISBN: 978-1590781722
Flashy, Clashy, and Oh-So Splashy: Poems about Color by Laura Purdie Salas 978-1429617451
Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’ Neil ISBN: 978-0385410786
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