Red Sings from Treetops a year in colors

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sidman, Joyce. 2009. Red Sings from Treetops a year in colors. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0547014945

2.PLOT SUMMARY
Poet and author Joyce Sidman portrayed four seasons with six or seven different poems using various colors, containing normal colors that people expect to see each season, such as yellow for spring, green for summer, brown for fall, white for winter, as well as some unexpected colors, such as blue in the springtime, gray for the summer night, purple for fall, and pink for winter. The poems made the four seasons come alive like a real person using different colors to express their characteristics. For example, in spring, red sings from treetops: Cheer-cheer-cheer, each note dropping like a cherry from the sound of a bird’s whistle. In spring, white sounds like storms (lightening). In summer, white clinks in drinks (ice) and yellow (the sun) melts everything. In the fall, yellow grows wheels and lumbers down the block (school bus). In the winter dawn, pink blooms powder-soft over pastel hills (the sun shining on the snow).

3.CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This is a very creative and innovative poetry picture book describing colors and seasons. I could not imagine that seasons could combine all of these different colors revealing various magical senses through these colorful illustrations. When I read it, the magical power of tone and language in the book inspired me to read it over and over again. I really loved the paragraphs that show the unique, beautiful language the author uses to describe each season. For instance, “Where is blue? Humming, shimmering, snoozing in the lazy haze Dancing on water (waves) With yellow and Green In summer, Blue grows new names: Turquoise, azure, and cerulean”. Colors dances from spring to winter though the whole year. The author uses beautiful and powerful language and imagery; however, some of the language may be slightly advanced for young children. The poetry book possesses other strengths that make the book attractive to readers, including creativity, the rhythm of the poetry, personification, organization and arrangement, the unique usage of beautiful language, and the colorful illustrations.

First of all, poet Joyce Sidman employed her superior observational abilities to depict new perspectives of the four seasons. The four seasons merge with some common colors revealing a beautiful and imaginational view for people who appreciate the circle of life. The author used her unique play on words and language expression to convey a new image for readers. For example, on page 2, the author said that red sings from treetops: Cheer-cheer-cheer, each note dropping like a cherry into my ear. The red color symbolizes the bird whistling from the treetops. Another example on page 5, in spring, white sounds like storms: snapped twigs and bouncing hail, blink of lightning and rattling BOOM! Normally, people would not connect spring with the color white; however, the author offers a different perspective creating a new interpretation. By reading these descriptions of the seasons, readers can construct their own pictures that remind them of each season.

Personification is the other strength I found in the book. The author personified colors with human traits that acted like human beings or animals. All colors come to life and have unique characteristics in the book. For example, green is new in spring. Shy, purple hold hands, Green is queen; Black holds secrets in summer; in fall, green is tired, dusty, and crisp around the edges; in winter, red, orange, and yellow have all gone home. The author also implied metaphors comparing them with other images to express feeling and construct more imagination for readers to enjoy. For instance, yellow melts everything it touches… smells like butter, tastes like salt. White sounds like storms.

The organization and layout arrangement are other strengths I found. By reading through the whole book over and over again, readers would discover that the author put a lot of effort in the layout of the book though the organization and work design. In the beginning and end of book, the author utilizes the same descriptions that make the book complete. For example, in the opening part, Cheer-cheer-cheer, each note dropping like a cherry represented by the color red, and at the end thump-thump-thump is the red color of one’s heart. Furthermore, the author uses bold, colorful words, and shadow colors to emphasize the color more so that young readers can distinguish them easily.

Sometimes, the author applied a different layout format expressing the feature of the word. For example, “floats” was separated in different lines so that the word actually appears to float as shown below.
Ex.
F
lo
a
t
s,
Moreover, the repeating pattern is presented throughout the whole book. Readers can easily locate the same colors repeating over and over again in all of the seasons with different descriptions.

In summary, this is well-designed poetry picture book. Illustrations help the poetry come alive. However, I am concerned that the author’s play on words might confuse the very young reader and the book would probably be much more enjoyable for older children. As an adult reader, I felt I could really see and touch these colors via reading the poems. The lyrical lines evocative images were matched with illustrations expressing the beauty of the various colors of the four seasons. .

4.REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
The book is a 2010 Caldecott Honor Book.
On the Amazon website, Kirkus reviews stated that it is charming inspiration to notice colors and the correlated emotions; and the Bulletin review expressed that this book has freshness and visual impact.
When I shared this book with my friend’s seven-year-old son, he loved it. He was so excited to show me that he could distinguish those colors from the book. He would yell out the colors, such as green, orange, and yellow when he saw them in the book. He also enjoyed the illustrations.

5.CONNECTIONS
I found another famous picture book about colors entitled, A Color of His Own. I love this book so much because the book not only talks about colors, but also indicates that people need to accept each other no matter what color they are. Even though this book did not mention seasons, it is a good relative book teachers could share with children.
Lionni, Leo. 2006. A Color of His Own. New York: Knopf Books. ISBN: 0375836977.

The other relative book I have found is SEASONS. The book mentioned the four seasons and provides rich colors and simple imagery together like the book Red Sings from Treetops a year in colors. The difference is the book also describes the activities that happen in each season.
Blexbolex. 2010. Seasons. New York: Enchanted Lion Books. ISBN: 1592700950

Another relative book entitled, Why Do Leaves Change Color? also talks about seasons and colors. It is a good supplement book for teachers. It would be a good science book for children after reading the Red Sings from Treetops a year in colors.
Maestro, Betsy. 1994. Why Do Leaves Change Color? New York, Collins. ISBN: 0064451267

References
Amazon. com., accessed March 8, 2011, http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sings-Treetops-Year-Colors/dp/0547014945
Amazon. com., accessed March 8, 2011, http://www.amazon.com/Color-His-Own-Leo-Lionni/dp/0679887857
Amazon. com., accessed March 8, 2011,
http://www.amazon.com/Seasons-Blexbolex/dp/1592700950/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=U

The article was created on March 8, 2011