Dark Emperor: Poetry Review
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sidman, Joyce. Dark
Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books
for Children. ISBN-13: 978-0-547-15228-8
Allen, Rick. Dark
Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. By Joyce Sidman. New York, NY:
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN-13: 978-0-547-15228-8
SUMMARY/ANALYSIS
This poetry-infused picture book was written by Joyce Sidman
and illustrated by Rick Allen presents twelve magical and unique poems about
different aspects of nightlife, including both plant life and animal life and
night. Poetry topics include snails, moths, oak trees, mushrooms, and bats. In
addition, this book contains informative paragraphs linked with each poem that
teach factual information about each topic of the poems, such as covering
information about snails at night right next to the “Snail at Moonrise” poem.
This book also provides a glossary to define scientific terms, lending itself
to be a valuable teaching tool as well as an entertaining, poetic book.
The poems within this book are beautifully written, bringing
aspects of night life together with plant and animal life, creating vivid
images through the descriptive wording and phrases. These poems follow
different poetry styles depending on the poem. Some flow effortlessly as
rhyming poems, consistent in similar sounds and wording, such as the poem “Welcome
to the Night”. Other poems do not rhyme, but rather use natural language meant
to mirror the happenings of the plant of animal described within the poem, such
as “Night-Spider’s Advice”, which uses words to create a web of images
surrounding the life advice the spider is giving. Another style used within
this book is that of repetitive word use. This is not the repetition of sounds
as occurs with the rhyming poems, but rather a recitation of a specific word
throughout the entirety of a poem. This can be seen in the “Love Poem of the
Primrose Moth”. The poem goes as follows:
Love Poem of the Primrose Moth
Evening unfolds like a primrose,
pale and scented.
The moon, a primrose:
two faces glowing.
Which is sweeter: night flight
or the nectar of a primrose?
I have only one true love:
it is the primrose.
At dawn, I fold my sherbet-colored wings
and become
a primrose.
This poem continually brings the attention back to the
primrose, stressing the moth’s infatuation and all-encompassing want for the
primrose. This poem does a terrific job of getting that love of the primrose
across to the reader, allowing all to understand the moth’s sole mission and
desire.
These well-crafted poems are accompanied by the informative
paragraphs, teaching about each plant and animal mentioned in the poems. In
addition, the poem and informative paragraphs are linked with beautifully created,
colorful images of each plant and animal mentioned. The art is reflective of
the night, using darker tones, shadows, and stars and moons to create the
feeling of nighttime. These images are also texturized, using lines and strokes
to create the images. Overall, this poetic picture book would be a terrific
book to read to children to entertain them, as well as to teach them about
various animals and their nighttime lives. This would be a great asset to
elementary science classes!
POEM PLUS “TAKE 5” ACTIVITIES
The “Bat Wraps Up” poem is a wonderful example of the
creative, expressive nightlife poems within this book. This poem creates vivid
imagery of this bat swooping around during the night, catching bugs to fill its
tummy before comfortably resting upside down, awaiting sleep. The word choice
and the way in which words are strung together masterfully paint a picture of
what nightlife for this bat looks like, painting pictures in the minds of each
reader of this poem. The style of poetry does not follow a rhyme scheme, but
instead represents the flow of actions occurring in this poem, incorporating punctuation
to guide the reader to pause in the appropriate places. On the next page, the
author provides information about bats and their nightlife. This can be used to
teach children about bats after reading the poem.
Bat
Wraps Up
By Jocye Sidman
Belly full,
he drops down
from the echoing room of night.
One last swift swoop,
one last bug plucked from the air
with cupped tail,
scooped neatly to mouth.
As dark grows thin
and body heavy,
he tumbles to tree
and grasps bark,
folds that swirl of cape
tipped with tiny claws
and snags the spot that smells like home.
Then…upside flip,
lock-on grip…
Stretch, hang, relax.
Yawn…
dawn.
Take 5
Activities
1. Read
the poem “Bat Wraps Up” aloud for the group of students, having them close
their eyes and listen.
2. Reread
the poem, this time having the students read every other line (starting with
the second line) aloud together, mimicking a two-person-voice poetry style.
3. Do
some quick research with the group about bats and how they hunt and move around
at night or read the informative page following the poem. Discuss how the poem
represents factual information with the group.
4. Pair this
poem with a picture book about bats, such as the book Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2007). Little
Stellaluna is also looking for food at night. How does her experience compare
to that bat’s in the poem? How is it different?
5. Link this
poem to another poem about bats, such as “Bats” by Randall Jarrell (http://edebutts.tripod.com/id38.html,
2002). How does this poem compare to the other poem? Are bats described in the
same way? In different ways? Have the students share with the group.
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