The Illinois School Library Media Association Presents

Silver Seeds: A Book Of Nature Poems

Read About the Book

Paolili, Paul. Silver Seeds: A Book of Nature Poems; illus. by Steve Johnson. New York: Viking, 2001.

Nature has a soothing effect on children and these poems about nature will, too. Acrostic poems on simple subjects that may well inspire children to try their hands at the art of poetry. Beginning with daybreak and ending with a beautiful interpretation of night, the poems move through the day and include striking images of the sun, fog, and rain.

1 v. (unpaged): col. ill. ; 26 cm. ISBN: 0670889415; LCCN: 00-9469. Picture Book; Dewey: 811/.6 / RL: 1.1 Follett), 2.1 (AR).

Read Aloud, Read Along

Read-Alikes

For Teachers and Librarians

Koss, Amy. Where Fish Go in Winter and Other Great Mysteries. Dial, 2002.

A collection of poems that answer such questions as "Where do fish go in winter?" and "Why does popcorn pop?"

Hines, Anna G. Pieces: a Year in Poems and Quilts.Greenwillow, 2001.

Poems about the four seasons, as reflected in the natural world, are accompanied by photographs of quilts made by the author.

Yolen, Jane. Horizons : Poems as Far as the Eye Can See; photographs by Jason Stemple. Wordsong/ Boyds Mill Press, 2002.

Poems and photographs depict horizons created by mountains, deserts, city skylines, bodies of water, and other natural and man-made areas.

Giovanni, Nikki. The sun is so quiet : poems / by Nikki Giovanni ; illustrations by Ashley Bryan.

A collection of poems primarily about nature and the seasons but also concerned with chocolate and scary movies.

Activity

We learn by observing. Poetry is an observation of the unobserved and the taken-for-granted. Read poems from the books above. Take the children on a listening or a looking walk, outdoors or through the school building. Take journals and pencils. Stop a few times to allow children to capture what they see or hear in pictures or words. Return to the classroom. Ask children to select one of the sights or sounds they saw and describe it.

Read About the Authors & Illustrators

Paul Paolili and his nephew Dan Brewer are first-time authors.

Illustrators: Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Since they began illustrating children’s books together in 1979, prize-winning artists and husband and wife Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher have developed a collaborative approach to projects wherein they work together at every stage in their creative process: they both conceive, draw, design, and paint each piece. Steve and Lou were the first illustrators to be chosen by the estate of Dr. Seuss to illustrate a Seuss manuscript (MY MANY-COLORED DAYS). They illustrated Garrison Keillor’s children’s book CAT YOU BETTER COME HOME, Jon Scieska’s THE FROG PRINCE CONTINUED, and Mary Pope Osborne’s NEW YORK’S BRAVEST, among many others. Steve and Lou have also created their vibrant and richly-textured art for posters, advertisements, book covers, and magazines, as well as ‘inspirational art’ for Disney and Pixar’s “A Bug’s Life.”

- Picture and text on Johnson and Fancher are from Storyopolis Art Gallery : http://www.storyopolis.com/

Other books Illustrated by Fancher and Johnson

Kilborn, Sarah S. Peach and Blue. Random House, 1998.

Hoffmann, Alice. Horsefly. Hyperion, 2000.

Fonteyn, Margot. Coppelia. Harcourt, 1998.

Brown, Margaret Wise. Robin's Room. Hyperion, 2002.

Read Alone

Poetry for Students to Read On Their Own

	Bryan, Ashley. Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry. Atheneum, 1997. Reading Level 2.5. A poem for each letter of the alphabet describes an aspect of the African-American experience. Poems are by famous African American poets.
Florian, Douglas. Bow wow Meow meow : It's Rhyming Cats and Dogs / Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian. Harcourt, 2003. Reading Level: 2.4. A collection of short poems about dogs and cats.
	Gollub, Matthew. Cool Melons-Turn to Frogs: The Life and Poems of Issa. Lee & Low, 1998. Haiku. A biography and introduction to the work of the Japanese haiku poet whose love for nature finds expression in the more than thirty poems included in this book.
Lewis, Patrick J. Doodle Dandies : Poems that Take Shape / Words, J. Patrick Lewis ; Images, Lisa Desimini. Atheneum, 1998. Reading Level 2.2 A collection of poems each of which appears on the page in the shape of its subject so that the poem looks like whatever it's about.