Counting on the Woods: A Poem - Hardcover

DK Publishing; Olson, Ann W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0789424800 ISBN 13: 9780789424808

Publisher: Dk Pub, 1998

Synopsis

A nature counting book with a rhyming text is enhanced with marvelous photographs of the wonders that one might find along the path of a Kentucky wood.

About this title

About the Author:

George Ella Lyon, a prize-winning author and poet of more than twenty books, has many accomplishments to her name.

While the Kentucky native is known mostly for her children's books, her work reflects her great versatility. She has authored fifteen picture books. A poet, she recently wrote Counting on the Woods (DK Ink, 1998), which Booklist, in a starred review, called "a gem of a counting book." She has also written three novels for children. With a Hammer for My Heart (DK Ink, 1997), hailed by The Alan Review as "a powerful novel, compelling, engagingly written, with strongly painted characters," was her first novel for adults. She has also written two plays. Her most recent picture book for DK Ink is Book, illustrated by Peter Catalanotto, it was hailed as "beautiful in spirit and presentation" by the Houston Chronicle.

After graduating from Centre College with a degree in English, Lyon received her master's degree in English from the University of Arkansas and her doctorate in English Literature and Creative Writing from Indiana University. She wrote her dissertation on Virginia Woolf. She now resides in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband and two sons.

Both an author and a teacher, Lyon has been a Writer-in-Residence at Centre College and also taught in the English Program there. She works with students and teachers on writing, and she teaches at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School. Her author appearances have included speaking engagements at the International Reading Association conventions, as well as at various library and educational conferences.

Lyon has written for many magazines, including The New York Times Book Review, The American Voice, Appalachian Journal, Appalachian Heritage, Journal of Kentucky Studies, Language Arts (Interview), The Horn Book, Book Links (Interview)¸ Ohio Journal of the English Language Arts, and Library Talk (Profile).

The honors and awards she has received for her work are many. Her Catalpa, a volume of adult poems, was chosen as the Appalachian Writers Association Book of the Year; Borrowed Children, a novel for children, won the Golden Kite Award (SCBWI); Basket was the winner of the Kentucky Bluegrass Award; Comes a Tide, a picture book, was chosen as a Reading Rainbow Feature; and Mountain won the Lamont Hall Award.

George Ella has a new picture book, One Lucky Girl, illustrated by Irene Trivas, also published by DK Ink.

Ann W. Olson lives an hour and a half away, near Olive Hill, Kentucky. Long-time friends, she and George Ella Lyon have also collaborated on a photo-autobiography of the author, A Wordful Child.

From Booklist:

Ages 4^-8. Well-known author Lyon has collaborated with friend and photographer Olson to create a gem of a counting book that will have multiple uses. As a child walks through the woods, he observes many things that can be counted--two birds, three bugs, six geese tracks, eight flowers, etc. The poetic text ("Four worms, / how the earth turns. / Five nests / where new ones rest") is beautifully complemented by the color photographs, which illustrate the glory and variety found in nature. For a slightly older crowd, or in the hands of a teacher, the book can be more than just a simple counting book, doubling as a science lesson. For example, each of the five different nests that are depicted has a caption identifying the kind of bird or insect that built it. Likewise, three species of moss beetles are shown and named when the number three is introduced. Things come full circle by the close: "Ten trees whose innumerable leaves / clean the air / for everything / that breathes." This is a deceptively simple book, but it will be used over and over as readers of a variety of ages make new discoveries on its pages. Helen Rosenberg

About this edition

• Publisher: Dk Pub
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0789424800
• ISBN 13: 9780789424808
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32