Poetry Review #40

A Songbird Dreams of Singing: Poems about Sleeping Animals

Author: Kate Hosford
Illustrator: Jennifer M. Potter
Publisher: Running Press Kids, 2019
ISBN:978-0762467143

Reading Ages: 4 - 8 years

Genre: Children's Poetry, Science, Nature

I Gave This Book 4 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁

Why 4 Roars? The poetry and illustrations are beautiful. There is an additional short paragraph on the opposite page that talks about the sleeping habits of the selected animal in the poem. I would liked to have seen a little more information about the animals and their sleeping patterns, but the information presented was interesting and fun. 

Poetic Elements: The rhythm and simplicity of the poems makes it a great book for younger children. The combination of scientific information and lyrical imagery merge well.   

"Firmly in control of language and rhyme schemes but varying tone and tempo as she goes, Hosford marvels at the sleep habits of 18 creatures. At once eye-closing and eye-opening."

~ Kirkus Reviews

Appeal: This collection of poems will appeal to animal lovers, nature lovers, and poetry lovers. The poems smooth out the rough edges of the hard scientific facts and make a great comforting bedtime book for children.

        "Not only is [A Songbird Dreams of Singing] gorgeous and the poems so original and beguiling; the informational text is a total wow!"

~~ Sy Montgomery, author of the National Book Award finalist, The Soul of an Octopus.

Overall Quality: This assortment of poems would be a lovely, reassuring, addition to a classroom or library.

"The work as a whole makes a unique, engaging read aloud from start to finish, and children may well pull it from the shelves again and again to revisit favorite excerpts."

 ~~Publishers Weekly

Layout: The poems are presented like a traditional children's picture book, with the addition of the informational paragraph opposite the poem. It does not feel disjoined or separate but reads more like a story.     

Connections:
Spotlight Poem- My favorite poem in this collection is "Mother Otter Gives Advice to Her Pup." The author discusses how sea otters sleep in the water and "sometimes hold hands." 

"Sleeping otter, swirling sea,

Be careful not to float away.

Hold my hand-stay close to me,

Sleeping otter, swirling sea.

This kelp, so long and tangly

Will help you not to go astray. 

Sleeping otter, swirling sea,

             Be careful not to float away!"           

Sharing - This collection of poems would be a great way to calm students down before nap time or inspire conversations about nature and the sleeping behaviors of animals.

Activity - Sleep Education For School