Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen

Image retrieved from www.amazon.com

Bibliography:

Sidman, Joyce, and Rick Allen. Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. ISBN 9780547906508

Review and Critical Analysis:

Winter Bees by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen is a collection of 12 poems about how animals survive the “longest and coldest season of the north” - winter. The poems take an in-depth, scientific look at how these amazing creatures live through the coldest time of year. Alongside each poem, Sidman includes a paragraph containing descriptive, factual information about each animal and how it survives winter. Mixed in with the animal poetry are two poems about snow and trees in winter, explaining how snow forms and how evergreen trees tolerate freezing temperatures. Following these educational poems is a glossary of words from the poems that young readers will most likely not be familiar with. Sidman includes the words and their definitions so students can refer to them during reading.

The poems in this collection are written in a variety of styles. “Under Ice” is written in the poetic style of a pantoum. “”Brother Raven, Sister Wolf” is written in the form of a conversation between a raven and a wolf. “Dream of the Tundra Swan” is written in free verse, and its rhythm and sound is soft and graceful, much like one would imagine the movements of a tundra swan to be - “Dusk fell / and the cold came creeping, / came prickling into our hearts.” However, a turn of the page finds the “Snake’s Lullaby” written in two-line rhyming stanzas that seem sharp and twisting, much like that of a snake’s search for a place to hibernate for winter - “Brother, sister, find the ways / back to the deep and tranquil bays, / and ‘round each other twist and fold / to weave a heavy cloak of cold.” Each of Sidman’s poems is characteristic of the animal it is written about. The poems give the reader a brief look into the lives of each animal.

Without Sidman’s inclusion of the informational paragraph about each animal, the poems wouldn’t be nearly as effective. When first reading through this collection of poetry, I read the poem first, followed by the facts about the animal. Halfway through I switched and read the facts first. I found that knowing about the animal gave the poem much more meaning and emotional impact. Knowing that voles use the sugary and loose snow layer nearest the earth, called the subnivean zone, to make it easy for tunneling helped me understand lines like “how it bakes in the winter sun / like a crumbly white cake / studded with delectables.” Sidman’s factual information allowed me to feel the depth of each poem.

Rick Allen’s illustrations, created as hand-colored linoleum prints, are a perfect match for the poems in this book. Somehow the illustrations seem both dull and bright at the same time. I suppose even the sleepy colors of winter seem bright against a snowy, white background. Allen does an excellent job of capturing the feel of those colors in these illustrations. His illustrations are lively and fresh, and they show how these incredible animals survive, and often thrive, throughout winter.

Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis:

Brother Raven, Sister Wolf

You are Squawker, Croaker,

Alarm-on-the-wind.

You are Slinker, Shadow,

Nose-to-the-ground.

Fearful and flighty,

you peck and then flee.

Bound to the earth,

you leap, snap, and tumble.

Silver-winged Thief,

Yellow-eyed Snarler,

Stop following me!

Stop following me!

But don’t stray too far

Keep watching our woods.

Don’t slack off your work.

Keep tracking our dinner.

Eyes-of-the-forest.

Heart-of-a-hunter.

Raven, my Brother.

My Sister, Wolf.

In the factual information supplementing this poem, Sidman explains how the lives of wolves and ravens are intertwined in the northern regions. Ravens patrol from the sky and announce when they see potential prey. Wolves work on the ground hunting the prey the ravens announce, providing food for both of them. They even feed together, sometimes harmoniously and sometimes fighting or teasing each other. In this poem, Sidman includes a conversation between “brother” raven and “sister” wolf. The poem creatively shows the unique relationship between the two of them.

I would include this poem, and this book of poetry, in a lesson on winter. I would talk with students about winter and what winter is like for us. I would ask them what animals and insects they notice during winter. What animals don’t they notice? Where are those animals during the winter and how do they survive? We would also talk about animal relationships and how sometimes animals work together to survive. The raven and the wolf are an example of one of those relationships. I would read “Brother Rave, Sister Wolf” through one time. I would then read the information Sidman provided about them and discuss it further, ensuring that students understand how these animals work together to survive. Then, I would read the poem out loud again. I would discuss with students why Sidman calls them brother and sister and whose voice is whose in the poem.

Following this reading and discussion, students would choose from a list of animals who work together to help each other survive. They would research these animals and animal relationships and write a paragraph of factual information about them. Then, they would write a poetic conversation between the animals, similar to Sidman’s poem, illustrate them, and share them with the class.