Publisher Description

A Caldecott medalist and a Newbery Honor-winning poet celebrate the beauty and value of spirals.What makes the tiny snail shell so beautiful? Why does that shape occur in nature over and over again - in rushing rivers, in a flower bud, even inside your ear? With simplicity and grace, Joyce Sidman's poetry paired with Beth Krommes's scratchboard illustrations not only reveal the many spirals in nature - from fiddleheads to elephant tusks, from crashing waves to spiraling galaxies - but also celebrate the beauty and usefulness of this fascinating shape. AGES: 0 to 3 AUTHOR: The Newbery Honor winner Joyce Sidman is today's foremost nature poet for children. Accolades for her books include two Caldecott Honors, a Lee Bennet Hopkins Award, winner of the Claudia Lews Award, and many stars and best of lists. For her award-winning body of work, she won the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.

Author Biography

Newbery-Honor winning poet Joyce Sidman is the author of Song of the Water Boatman and Red Sings from Treetops, both Caldecott Honor Books, as well as other fine books of poetry. For her remarkable poetry, she has won, several times, both the Lee Bennet Hopkins Award and Bank Street's Claudia Lewis Award. About writing this book she says For me, writing is a matter of finding what things amaze and intrigue me and what things give me joy. She lives in Wayzata, Minnesota. Beth Krommes is the Caldecott Winner of The House in the Night and other beautifully illustrated, much-acclaimed picture books. She lives in Peterborough, NH.

Review

"The open-ended quality of the verse and the visual nature of the subject create plenty of opportunities for the art. The striking scratchboard illustrations use black lines, shapes, and crosshatched shading on white backgrounds to create strong compositions, while watercolor washes add subtle warmth and brilliance. . .There are, of course, many school uses for this, but just reading it aloud at home will make the everyday fascinating."--Booklist, starred review "The observations, from a few words to a couple sentences, are tucked neatly into Krommes's gorgeous scratchboard spreads."--School Library Journal, starred review "Exquisitely simple and memorable."--Kirkus, starred review "From the endpapers that gather together all the spirals depicted to the spiraling text on the title page verso, this book is elegantly constructed, and as poetry, picture book, or nonfiction, a success in every way."--The Horn Book, starred review "This is one of those rare children's books that make you look at the physical world differently. . .spirals are beautiful--whether we see in them hints of infinity, the promise of unfolding potential, or the embodiment of mathematical perfection."--Publishers Weekly, starred review --

Review Quote

"The open-ended quality of the verse and the visual nature of the subject create plenty of opportunities for the art. The striking scratchboard illustrations use black lines, shapes, and crosshatched shading on white backgrounds to create strong compositions, while watercolor washes add subtle warmth and brilliance. . .There are, of course, many school uses for this, but just reading it aloud at home will make the everyday fascinating."-- Booklist, starred review "The observations, from a few words to a couple sentences, are tucked neatly into Krommes's gorgeous scratchboard spreads."-- School Library Journal , starred review "Exquisitely simple and memorable."-- Kirkus , starred review "From the endpapers that gather together all the spirals depicted to the spiraling text on the title page verso, this book is elegantly constructed, and as poetry, picture book, or nonfiction, a success in every way."--T he Horn Book, starred review "This is one of those rare children's books that make you look at the physical world differently. . .spirals are beautiful--whether we see in them hints of infinity, the promise of unfolding potential, or the embodiment of mathematical perfection."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review

Details