Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy -- hashtag #nfpb2020! Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts, you can discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!
I'm on a blog tour today, excited to share a new book of poetry written by David L. Harrison, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis that is out February 25th. It's After Dark, poems about nocturnal animals. And, you have a chance to win a copy of this book!
Vincent Van Gogh said, "I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." For this book, David has written twenty-two poems about animals who live and ensure their survival in the night and Stephanie Laberis shows their unique hues and markings in her own "richly colored" illustrations. When you read and see examples below, I imagine you will say that Van Gogh is right.
Sometimes, I sit outside (longer in summer) to see if I can be still enough to spot a creature moving nearby, to hear an animal's cry. Most often I see a rabbit hopping, stopping for nibbles. Sometimes I hear owls, and one very surprising time, I saw a coyote walking down the street, readying itself for night work. Here is one view from my porch. We humans can't see much, but many animals can and need to.
I don't fool myself, however. I know that other creatures are out there, living their night lives, just as David shows us through his poems, as Stephanie has illustrated those words. In this book, they've offered a peek at the magic "After Dark". As I read the poems, I imagine sharing them with students, excited that David cleverly includes so much of each animal's behavior in his words, including clues in the titles. For example, the very first one, "The Rehearsal" includes the behavior of grey wolf adults who hunt for food to feed young pups, keep them safe for now as they grow. I.E., they rehearse!
"For now,
play tag,
pretend grr,
pounce ferociously
on your siblings."
Stephanie creates three scenes from the comprehensive poem with a double-page spread, a wolf howling at the moon, allowing the moon to light up the entire two pages; the wolf mom nursing her pups; and the pups themselves playing in the night. Here are those pups and the poem:
This opening poem's delight sets the stage for more questions, this time about wolves, but also a wonder about what's next, what else can be discovered in the night? If only for a time, we can explore the night through David's and Stephanie's "night eyes"!