A Mirror to Nature: Poems About Reflection - Hardcover

Yolen, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590786246 ISBN 13: 9781590786246

Publisher: WordSong, 2009

Synopsis

Jane Yolen and Jason Stemple join forces again in this new winning combination of poems and photos. Water possesses reflective qualities, creating fascinating patterns and doubled images that allow us to see things in new ways. Celebrated writer Jane Yolen and photographer Jason Stemple capture these natural beauties in twelve thoughtful poems and breathtaking pictures in this winner of the John Burroughs Nature Books for Young Readers Award. Watery reflections provide an appropriate backdrop for Jane's musings on nature, such as a raccoon swimming with his reflected self, the water-jagged legs of a snowy egret, and the double danger of a hungry alligator at the edge of a swamp. Jason's photographs offer whimsical peeks at the natural world we rarely chance to see. This artistic collaboration gives readers a unique opportunity to contemplate their world.

About this title

About the Author:

Jane Yolen has received numerous awards for her writing, including the Regina Medal, the Society of Children's Book Writers Award, and the Christopher Medal. Her books have been translated into more than twelve languages.. She lives in St. Andrews, Scotland and Hatfield, Massachusetts.

Jason Stemple is a freelance photographer. He has provided the photographs for a number of poetry books for young readers, including Fine Feathered Friends and Wild Wings, both written by his mother, Jane Yolen. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

From Booklist:

Water acts as a mirror in this picture book that combines short poems with full-page color photos of animals in the wild. As Yolen points out in a brief note, her son’s photos show double images that will make readers see things in new ways. An alligator poised above its reflection in the water looks as if it has two heads. A gorgeous mirror image shows a solitary cockle in its shell. The poetic forms are well matched to the mood in the pictures. Accompanying a blurry, liquid image of a roseate spoonbill is a stirring, spare haiku: “Her only competition / Is her reflection.“ A photo catches a coyote standing “statue still,” but both the poem and the image give the sense of the animal’s leap into action that will follow the scene. Drawn by the rich play in words and pictures, kids will see reflections, strange and beautiful, in the natural world. Grades 2-5. --Hazel Rochman

About this edition

• Publisher: WordSong
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1590786246
• ISBN 13: 9781590786246
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32