Echoes for the Eye: Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature - Hardcover

Esbensen, Barbara Juster

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060243988 ISBN 13: 9780060243982

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

Synopsis

Poet Barbara Juster Esbensen and painter Helen K. Davie reveal the patterns that repeat endlessly in the natural world. The branches of a tree are echoed in jags of lightning, in the veins of a leaf, and the veins of your body. Readers will find connections between hurricanes and galaxies, glaciers and rivers, snowflakes and honeycombs. This book sings the harmony among math, science, language, and art which is at the heart of whole language curricula.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1997 (NSTA/CBC)
1997 Teacher’s Choices (IRA)
1997 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
1997 Elizabeth Burr Award (WI)

About this title

About the Authors

Barbara Juster Esbensen was the author of many popular fiction and nonfiction picture books, including Baby Whales Drink Milk, another Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science title.

Holly Keller has illustrated numerous picture books, such as Nola Bucks Morning in the Meadow, and the Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science title Lets Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans. She lives in West Redding, CT.

Helen K. Davie's lovely watercolors have appeared in many children's books, including What Lives in a Shell? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfield, and Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder. She lives in Templeton, CA.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1997 (NSTA/CBC)
1997 Teacher’s Choices (IRA)
1997 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
1997 Elizabeth Burr Award (WI)

Reviews

Grade 3-6?Esbensen's poems draw attention to shapes and patterns, encouraging youngsters to observe the spirals, branches, polygons, meanders, and circles that appear all around them. For example, one selection describes the concentric circles left in the water by a fish as it jumps, and another the rings of a tree trunk. Attractive watercolor illustrations effectively reflect the concepts discussed. Younger children may need explanations for some of the abstract references to chemistry and geometry, such as how "Polygons" relate to honeycombs. Similarly, older readers may be put off by the picture-book format. Nonetheless, this is an imaginative addition that should please teachers looking for poetry to accent units on science or nature.?Melissa Hudak, North Suburban District Library, Roscoe, IL
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This charming book, bearing the subtitle ``Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature,'' introduces many geometric patterns from the natural world and establishes an agreeable link between aesthetic enjoyment and natural history. Any pedagogical intent quickly succumbs to the tone of wonder and delight at patterns found throughout the universe in phenomena immense and small. In ``Branches,'' Esbensen (Dance With Me, 1995, etc.) juxtaposes the branches and roots of a tree with the veins of a leaf, then with the lightning in the sky and the veins in a hand. The final poem, ``Circles,'' begins with the ripples in a pool after a fish jumps and the rings in a tree trunk, then moves to a circle of musk oxen defending their group, a dappled fawn, the planets, hibernating bears (curled in sleep), and, finally, a bedtime scene of parent and child, an arm curved around a book, the moon shining, and a cat rolled up cozily at the foot of the bed. Soft watercolors accompany the free verse; the layout reflects a use of patterns as well. A welcome collaboration. (Picture book/poetry. 8-12) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 3^-5, younger for reading aloud. Using poetry and paintings, this unusual book explores the repetition of shapes in the natural world. A note from the author and illustrator explains the mathematical formulation known as in the Fibonacci series that can be observed in nature, such as in the spiral rows of sunflower seeds. This leads into a poem and painting of sunflowers, grouped with pages featuring other spirals such as ferns, hurricanes, tornadoes, nautilus shells, and galaxies. Branches are also explored in verse and illustrations, and include tree branches and roots, leaf veins, blood veins, and lightning. The other three categories of shapes considered are polygons, meanders, and circles. Esbensen's verse speaks quietly and succinctly and is illustrated by sensitive watercolor artwork. A most original introduction to geometry in nature. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0060243988
• ISBN 13: 9780060243982
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Davie Helen K.