Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night

Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night. Joyce Sidman. Illus. by Rick Allen. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. 32 pages. $16.99(Hardcover). ISBN 978-0-547-15228-8. Grades 3-6.

Reminds Me Of...

The first book I thought of alter/while reading Dark Emperor was Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué rico! Americas’ Sproutings by Pat Mora and illustrated by Rafael López. This is another nonfiction book of poetry that has poems on one side of the page and information on the following page. It too has a glossary. Although the subjects are different, nature and food, the style book is similar. I think both books introduce poetry to children and work to teach them about what they are reading. I think they are good informational and enjoyable tools. Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué rico! Americas’ Sproutings is written in Haikus, which is another form of poetry that could be taught alongside the more traditional poems found in Dark Emperor. I also believe that Joyce Sidman has already written and published other volumes of nature related poetry that readers would also enjoy. Like this book there is information and a glossary included to add to learning in Song of the Water Boatman and Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow.  Of course the oldie but VERY GOODIE is Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. No, I did not just choose this book because it is poetry, even though that is a huge similarity, but because the different style and forms of poetry found within its covers. For example, the poem “Dark Emperor” about the great horned owl in Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night is a shape poem in the shape of an owl. There are poems of different shapes in styles in Where the Sidewalk Ends that could serve as more examples of poetry.