Butterfly Eyes and other Secrets of the Meadows by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, J. (2006). Butterfly eyes and other secrets of the meadows. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Summary:
This book begins with two poems that ask “Who am I?” and “What Am I?”. After the poem there is information that tells you what the poems were about and gives you more information. This continues throughout the book. The poems are very descriptive and create a wonderful mental image. The information provided about the poem gives the reader more insight and would be an excellent lead way in to further inquiry.

Ages:
K through 5th

Credibility of Author:
Joyce Sidman has written many poetry books and won multiple awards. She teaches poetry in a step by step method to elementary school students and has written teacher’s guides for teaching poetry.

National Standards that this book relates to:
Life Science
Access Features:
There is a glossary of terms in the back of the book.

Description of the Illustrations:
The illustrations are scratchboard and were created by Beth Krommes. The end pages in the front and back are also made of scatchboard illustrations and the cover of the book is a deep purple linen with a silver butterfly embossed on the front.

Awards:
2007 NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children
2007 ALA Notable Book for Children
2006 ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award

Related Texts:
Sidman, J. (2004). Song of the Water Boatman. new York, NY: houghton Mifflin Company.
Sidman, J. (2003). Just Us Two : Poems About Dads. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.

My response to the book:
This was a very intriguing book that kept me guessing the whole time. It was nice to have more information about each pair of poems after I read them.
How I would use this book in my class:
This would be a great book for a reader’s workshop on mental imagery!

This book is 32 pages.