Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Sidman, J.  (2010).  Dark emperor & other poems of the night.  New York:  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

This book received the Newbery Honor Award

I will be going to the bookstore promptly and purchasing this lovely book of poems.  It will go nicely with my unit on nocturnal animals.  My students receive a poem every week that we read together.  I will definitely be sharing these poems with my students during my nocturnal animals unit.  The page opposite the illustration contains the poem, but next to the illustration are some fun facts and information regarding the animal or plant the poem is referring to.

The poems are beautiful and my students will benefit from the vocabulary that is used.  I like to "harvest" words with my students and these poems will provide many opportunities. 

I was not the biggest fan of the illustrations.  I felt that it was difficult to see, what should have been, the main focal point.  For instance, there is an enchanting poem about an owl.  The illustration that accompanies the poem had a mouse as the focal point.  The owl seemed like an afterthought.  The illustrations contain dark colors, but in some of the illustrations it was difficult to see where one object began and another ended.

Regardless of the illustrations, the poems are ones that I will share again and again with my students.  I really did enjoy this book and am excited about sharing them next year.