Silver Seeds: A Book of Nature Poems - Hardcover

Paolilli, Paul; Brewer, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670889415 ISBN 13: 9780670889419

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 2001

Synopsis

Silver seeds
Tossed in the air
And planted in the sky,
Reaching out of the darkness,
Sprouting wonder.

The poems in this book, done in a creative acrostic format, show us the world of nature in a different light. Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher's glowing illustrations will give readers a new appreciation for the wonders of nature. Beginning with daybreak and ending with a beautiful interpretation of night, the poems include striking images of the sun, fog, and rain.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Paolilli lives in Long Beach, California.
Dan Brewer lives in Los Angeles, California.
Steve Johnson lives in Minneapolis, MN.

From Publishers Weekly

Johnson and Fancher's (My Many Colored Days) progression of paintings captures an uncanny likeness to the shifting light during the course of a single day, inspired by a first-time-author team's evocative poems. The authors explore the great outdoors in a series of economical verses for which a word's letters begin each line of text. In one of the strongest poems, "Rain" becomes "Rap-tap-tapping/ At my window/ In drip-drop/ Notes." Because of the brevity of the poems, the success lies in the metaphor, and the authors come up with some perfect matches: "Stars" are "Silver seeds/ Tossed in the air/ And planted in the sky,/ Reaching out of the darkness/ Sprouting wonder," and the moon a "Marvelous melon, whole/ Or sliced,/ Offering sweet flavor to the/ Night." The chronology of the poems flows as smoothly as the passing of time: "Dawn" gives way to "Sun" then "Shadow"; "Clouds" is followed by "Fog" then "Rain." Johnson and Fancher's illustrations hew to a Shaker-like spareness. They often focus on one central image--a bright hummingbird hovering at a deep purple morning glory, a single turquoise butterfly fluttering through a field of sunlit poppies--and they link the poems by featuring a boy and girl, sometimes together, sometimes alone. In one particularly dramatic spread, "Fog," the children hold hands, enveloped by a swirl of gray. A dazzling example of how poetry can prompt readers to view ordinary experiences through fresh eyes. Ages 5-9.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0670889415
• ISBN 13: 9780670889419
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Johnson Steve