Fasten your seat belts, everyone! It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday! And if last week is anything to judge by we’re in for quite a ride!
I’m REALLY excited to share today’s book with you. It is so incredibly beautiful. Beautiful art, and even more beautiful language. There, now see? I’m getting ahead of myself telling you why I like it before I’ve even told you what it is! But get ready, because this one is really special!
Red Sings From Treetops: A Year In Colors
Written By: Joyce Sidman
Illustrated By: Pamela Zagarenski
Houghton Mifflin Books For Children, April 2009, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 5 and up
Themes: Colors, Seasons, Poetry
Opening:
“In SPRING,
Red sings from treetops:
cheer-cheer-cheer,
each note dropping
like a cherry
into my ear.
Red turns
the maples feathery,
sprouts in rhubarb spears;
Red squirms on the road after rain.”
(Don’t you just love that? Can’t you just hear that cardinal singing and see the worms wiggling on the pavement?)
Brief Synopsis: From the jacket: “Color comes alive in this whimsical, innovative book.” That pretty much sums it up!
Links To Resources: Junior Library Guild Activity Guide, Poem Starters, Readers Guide
Why I Like This Book: I love the lyrical language of this book. The author was so creative in her thinking – the way she describes the colors makes you see, feel, hear, touch, and taste Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The art is exquisite and perfectly suited to the poetry. How can you not love lines like,
“Green waits
in the hearts of trees,
feeling
the earth
turn.”
I hope you’ll get a chance to read this book, linger over the language, enjoy the images it evokes, maybe challenge yourself or your children to come up with your own descriptions!
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
As a special and related note, for parents who might be interested, I wanted to share something from Vivian over at Positive Parental Participation. Vivian is encouraging parents to read with their children via her 2012 Challenge. She describes it as follows:
It might be a fun way to interact with other parents, share your reading choices and experiences, and win some books 🙂
I also want to say a special thanks to Penny who totally baled me out of my posting time quagmire. Several of you (subscribers) commented that you weren’t getting posts until very late at night or even the next day. I can relate to this, as I have the same problem with several of your blogs, but I had no idea how to fix it. Penny, bless her heart, worked google magic and found a link with step-by-step instructions that even I could follow 🙂 A little experimentation may be necessary but I’m hoping the problem is fixed. Thank you, Penny 🙂
PPB Bloggers, please remember to add your link below – if you don’t I can’t promise I’ll find you! And it helps me tremendously to have the ages and themes listed on the post – it makes the archiving much easier! Thank you all so much! Our list is coming along beautifully. We’re up to 140 books covering 95 categories, posted by 29 devoted bloggers – you guys are awesome! Can’t wait to see what gets added today!
And don’t forget to tune in specially on Sunday for our interview with Michael Garland, and Monday for our first installment of Oh Susanna!
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Lovely book, Susannah! I can't tell you how much I (and probably every parent and teacher) appreciate this resource. You are putting so much “good stuff” in one place that is easy to navigate and use.
I just added my link for PPBF. 🙂
And thank you so much for the blurb about the PPP Challenge to read every day! Hope it encourages more parents to hop aboard!
I'm always looking for seasonal books. This sounds like a good addition. Thanks!
Hi Susanna,
Love your selection this week. It sounds like a beautiful book. I love the opening!
The Positive Parent Challenge sounds like a really great idea. Thanks for sharing about it.
Can't wait for the upcoming posts! Have a great weekend!
Susanna, I had a terrible time trying to set up an email sign up on my blog. Many didn't work. I thought I was using Feedblitz and was going to try and change publicizing time, but I am not, so need to investigate further. Thanks for letting me know!
I do so love lyrical, poetic picture books, and the text you cite is musical and wonderful… what a lovely choice this week!
Thanks so much, Vivian! I'm really hoping parents and teachers are finding this. Jennifer very kindly got us added to Shutta Krum's list of resources, but it would be great if everyone could pass the word to their colleagues – especially if you're a teacher – and to parents they know who could make use of it (as well as writers, of course :))
It's really great, Barbara, because not only does it cover all the seasons, it brings them to life so beautifully that you can really feel them. I'm not a teacher, but I think you could do a lot with this book in terms of getting kids to write about what stands out about each season to them.
It is a beautiful book. The language is so evocative that I had to restrain myself from copying the whole book 🙂 I haven't even started my way through this week's books – totally looking forward to it after I get people to school 🙂
Good luck sorting out the email thing. I guess I won't know if mine worked any better until I hear from Clar and Beth 🙂 And I absolutely love this book. I hope one day I can write something this lyrical!
Those first lines are beautiful! Sounds like a winner!
Glad you figured out the email timing. Feedburner has so much in it, if you can just get down deep enough to find it. 🙂
Susanna, I love your book for today and the Positive Parenting Challenge. I'm certainly going to try as I know it would make me a better mother! Happy Friday!
Really cool book! I like poetry and this book seems to be a book I will really like! I like your description of it.
Erik 🙂
A poetry book for me, oops I mean the kids 😉 Super! Thanks Susanna and I'll get crafting and join in your book idea, you've got it all going on lady 🙂
You are one busy lady! Yikes. I am sitting down just watching you fly, girlfriend! I will love this book. Very melodic. Can't wait to read it. Thanks for the suggestion.
What a unique selection! I just love “Red squirms on the road…” Excellent links, too.
BTW, I was one of the people not getting your posts until the next day…and today I got it right on time! It worked! 🙂
I love whimsical books! And just the use of rhubarb has me so interested, well, that and the cover. 🙂
Have a great weekend Susanna!
The art looks great on this one. I received an email about your post at 5:05 mst. 🙂 I think with Blogger it all depends on when you post it. Like I schedule mine to post at 12:01 a.m. mst. Looks like a fun list. I'll be making my way through them all.
“Red Sings From Treetops” sounds delightful. Yes, I could hear the cardinals. Makes me yearn for spring and we haven't even had snow yet, here in Northern Virginia. I'll put it on my list to read.
I'm so glad you worked your google magic to make your posts appear earlier. What an accomplishment! I'll check that out as well.
That is a beautiful book Susanna, I could hear them singing.
Oh my! so many already here. I went for a doze on the couch thinking I had time while waiting for you to post your PPB, and when I came back all these others were already here….. my word, that will teach me….lol.
Aw, this sounds like a sweet book. Especially for all those kids stuck inside during the winter, awaiting springtime. Thanks for sharing it Susanna.
p.s. can you see if mine added? The book is called, What Can You do with an Old Red Shoe? Here's my link: http://jennyleeyoung.blogspot.com/2012/01/perfect-picture-book-fridays.html
It is a wonderful book! And I'm so sorry! I should have thanked you to, since you were the one to bring up feedburner! I really appreciate your help! I never would have figured it out without the article, though – I was flummoxed 🙂
It really is a lovely book! For writers, especially, there is much to learn from it! Your link did NOT go up. I will see if I can enter it…
I cannot wait to read this book, it sounds wonderful!
I don't know where you are, Diane, waiting for me! I posted at 12:01 AM EST, and told my feedburner to deliver the email between 7 AM and 9 AM – trying so hard to be ahead of the game! And STILL you're waiting! So sorry! Can't wait to see your book – and don't worry – I'll get there eventually 🙂
Oh, it really is! You'll love it. And as an artist, I think you'll find the art very interesting too!
I know – I'm longing for spring too and it's only mid-January! Let me know if you need Penny's link – although I think it was for blogger possibly, and not wordpress….
Thanks to Penny's link, I was able to go into feedburner and discover a) that it thought I was on central time (I'm not!) and b) that it was sending email notifications between 9 and 11 PM! So I changed it! Hopefully it's going to work now!
I hope you get a chance to read it, Coleen – it's really wonderful! HAGW too 🙂
Oh, hurray!!! So glad it worked! And you, as a poet, will especially love this book, I think. It's well worth the trip to the library 🙂
Yes, someone said yesterday that I was a Busy Bee. I think I want everyone to call me that 🙂 Hope you like the book – as you can tell, I LOVE it! Have a great weekend Robyn 🙂
I think you will especially love this book, Catherine. I thought of you and Renee and a couple others when I posted – people who are poets themselves 🙂 Let me know what you think of it if you get a chance to read it!
I hope you like the book, and I am quite certain you are already a wonderful mother 🙂
This book will make you wish you could write like that! At least, it makes ME wish that 🙂 Let me know if you read it – I'd like to know what you think!
“Red Sings from the Treetops” sounds lovely, lyrical and imaginative. Thank you for introducing us to it. and Vivian's challenge sounds great! I find myself wishing I had some grandkids so that we could join in.
And yes, your post was waiting for me in my inbox this morning. I wasn't sure if it was the tweaking you'd done behind the scenes, or the fact that I unfollowed, then followed again early one morning. I suspect it was your tweaking. Thanks go to Penny!
“Red Sings from the Treetops” sounds like a wonderful book. I have it on my library list now. I did get your post notification in my email this morning….yea! Glad it helped.
Wow, we're getting so many more participants each week – fun!
“Red” sounds wonderful, and exactly my type of book. I'd never heard of it before so it's going on my list! 🙂
Yay! I'm so glad it worked! And as for “Red Sings” – in addition to being a delightful read, it's a book I think writers can learn so much from! Well, THIS writer anyway 🙂
If you get to read it, tell me how you like it – I'm interested to know if others find it as delightful as I do. And THANK YOU! I'm so glad the post came through, and I couldn't have done it without you 🙂
I know – isn't it great? I love seeing what everyone puts up, and feeling that little jump of happy recognition at books I love – like Munch! Muncha!, Mostly Monsterly, etc hat have shown up this week – and that spark of excitement when I see something one of you guys highly recommends that I haven't read yet! So fun 🙂 And I think you'll really enjoy “Red”!
You are over the hill excited about this book. Must get it and take a peek. It sounds lyrical and the illustrations look beautiful. A great way to talk about the season with kids. Great selection!
Hahaha! Some might object to being called “over the hill” but not me 🙂 This is a great book. I hope you like it! And I just realized, I need to add your link. I wish we could figure that out…!
I have never heard of Red. It looks exquisite, I will definitely have to add it to my library list. The only problem I am running into, is that my library list is so full of books that have come from PPBF, that I am not leaving much room to check out new, potentia PPBFl picks! So many GOOD books out there….Oh well–I suppose it's not a terrible dilemma to be caught in! :))
I know – I have the same not-problem 🙂
Oh, that's okay. I'm just glad you figured it out! 🙂
Oh, that's okay. I'm just glad you figured it out! 🙂
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
So glad you like it, Helena!
The artwork looks sublime! I must find this book.
sf
The whole book is delightful, Sarah! I think you'll really like it 🙂
I hadn't heard of this one. I loved the excerpt! Beautiful. 🙂
It was a Caldecott Honor book… It really is lovely!