Joyce Sidman Poetry: Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems

Sidman, Joyce. 2005. Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems. Illustrated by Beckie Prange. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 9780618135479.

Image courtesy Joyce Sidman

Review and Critical Analysis

Joyce Sidman’s Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems is a collection of 11 poems that explore the ecosystem of a pond from the beginning of spring through the onset of winter. The poems are a combination of forms including rhyming poems, free verse poems, and shape poems. Each poem is accompanied by a beautiful ¾ to full page woodblock illustration hand-colored with watercolor and a short paragraph that provides information about the organism depicted in the poem.

The language Sidman uses make the poems accessible for young children. The poems themselves use imagery and concrete language to explain the habitat and behavior of unfamiliar animals and plants in a way that is understandable for children. For example, in “Listen for Me” the arrival of the spring peepers is described from the point of view of one of the frogs saying, “I creep up from the cold pond/the ice pond,/the winter pond.” Any academic or technical vocabulary such as “herbivorous” and “carnivorous” is reserved for the sidebars where the terms are first explained and included in parentheses. Young readers can enjoy the poems and learn important vocabulary words without difficult language getting in the way of the poems.

Sidman uses several different repetition and rhythm to create patterns throughout the poems in Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems. For example, in “Listen for Me” Sidman repeats the last word at the end of the first four lines of each stanza. The repetition is extended to a refrain in “Song of the Water Boatman and Backswimmer’s Refrain” where each stanza ends with a variation of the refrain “Yo, ho, ho,/the pond winds blow.” The various forms of repetition provide ample opportunities for choral reading and performance.

Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems is a 2006 Caldecott Honor Book and an excellent resource to use in support of a wide variety of science concepts.

Example Poem
In the Depths of the Summer Pond

Here hang the algae, green and small,
in the depths of the summer pond.

Here floats the flea, waving antennae,
that eats the algae, green and small,
in the depths of the summer pond.

Here nods the nymph with feathery gills
that drinks the flea,
that eats the algae, green and small,
in the depths of the summer pond.

Here dives the bug, sleek and swift,
that nabs the nymph
that drinks the flea
that eats the algae, green and small,
in the depths of the summer pond.

Here kicks the frog with golden eyes
that gulps the bug,
that nabs the nymph
that drinks the flea
that eats the algae, green and small,
in the depths of the summer pond.

Here lurks the fish, wide of jaw,
that swallows the frog
that gulps the bug,
that nabs the nymph
that drinks the flea
that eats the algae, green and small,
in the depths of the summer pond.

Here hunts the heron, queen of the pond,
that spears the fish,
that swallows the frog
that gulps the bug,
that nabs the nymph
that drinks the flea
that eats the algae, green and small,
in the depths of the summer pond.

Activity

“In the Depths of the Summer Pond” is a great poem to use with students who are studying the food chain in their science classes. Begin by asking students what they know about food chains and food webs. Have them explain key vocabulary like consumers, producers, and decomposers. Then explain that you will be reading a poems that explores a food chain in a specific ecosystem--a pond during the summertime.

Read through the poem once or twice for students to model pronunciation of words and the rhythm. Children of all ages will pick up the repetition of the the lines “that eats the algae, green and small,/in the depths of the summer pond” and will likely join in after the first few stanzas. Once students have a feel for the rhythm, divide the students into seven groups (or select seven readers). Assign each group one of the animals, and allow them time to practice their parts. Then have the groups read the lines about their animal in each stanza, with everyone chiming in for the line “in the depths of the summer pond.” 

As an extension, give the students another ecosystem--the ocean, the rainforest, the woods, or the desert--and ask them to identify seven parts of a food chain for that ecosystem. Working with their group members, students could then produce an illustration or find a public domain or Creative Commons digital image online and write a line of poetry to describe their animal. All the images and lines can be put together on the wall or in photo editing software to make a food chain diagram.

Science Poetry: Beast Feast

Florian, Douglas. 1994. Beast Feast. San Diego: Harcourt. ISBN: 0152951784.

Image courtesy Amazon.com

Review and Critical Analysis
Douglas Florian's Beast Feast contains 21 poems depicting all types of animals. Some animals such as the ants and the caterpillar are very familiar, while others, like the rhea and the kiwi, are more unusual. Each of the book's spreads pairs one of the poems with a whimsical, full-page watercolor painting of the animal.

The poems in Beast Feast rely heavily on playful rhyme and strong rhythm for their appeal. Florian uses traditional rhyme throughout the book. For example, in  "The Sloth" he rhymes "claws" and "pause," but he also plays with pronunciation and invents words to add a comical effect. In "The Walrus" he rhymes the word "sea" with his invented "walrusty," and in "The Boa" he plays with the word more, writing it as "moa and moa."

While all the poems play with rhyme and rhythm, they structures vary significantly. They vary in length from the two-lined "The Boa" that is a fairly simple rhyming couplet to the 20-lined "The Pigeon." Several of the poems are structured as quatrains, while my personal favorite, "The Mole" is written as a two-stanza limerick. The variety of poems and structures and lengths ensure there's a poem for everyone in this book.

Florian's language in Beast Feast is very accessible for children. The wording and descriptions are mostly straightforward, with an occasional simile such as referring to a lobster as being "Like an underwater/Mobster." He does include some scientific vocabulary such as "crustacean," "invertebrates," and "reptilian" that might need explanation for younger students who have not learned the vocabulary, yet. Their inclusion, however, is not so intrusive that students who might select this book from the shelf will be completely confused.

Douglas Florian's Beast Feast won the 1995 Lee Bennet Hopkins Poetry Award and is an excellent science resource for the library or elementary classroom.

Example Poem

The Lobster

See the hard-shelled
Leggy lobster
Like an underwater
Mobster
With two claws
To catch and crush
Worms and mollusks
Into mush
And antennae
Long and thick
Used for striking
Like a stick.
So be careful
On vacation
Not to step on
This crustacean.

Activity
"The Lobster" is an especially useful poem to use with a unit on ocean life. To introduce the poem, I would engage children in a conversation about their favorite underwater animal. Ask them to share what makes that animal special before reading about the legs, pinchers, and antennae of the lobster.

As an extension, have the children write a poem about their favorite ocean animal. Encourage them to try using rhyme or a simile like the poet does in "The Lobster." The poems can also be illustrated with traditional art supplies, or the poem and illustration can be designed using an iPad or computer.