Mindfulness, according to Jon Kabat-Zinn, “means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Much easier said than done. Author/illustrator Bryan Collier once asked an audience if they had caught the color of the day that morning when they left the house. In other words, were they being mindful.
Winter has a reputation for being drab and gray. Sometimes a pristine blanket of white brightens the landscape, but too quickly it becomes trampled and dirty. Earlier this week, while driving to work (the one time of day I remember to be mindful), I was treated to a glorious pink sky. Joyce Sidman’s award-winning Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors immediately came to mind. She writes
“In the WINTER dawn
Pink blooms
powder-soft
over pastel hills.”
Isn’t that lovely? Pamela Zagarenski’s Caldecott-Honor winning illustrations perfectly complement Sidman’s beautifully crafted images.
Sidman’s mindfulness, her keen observation, is evident in every poem. Colors are personified as they change from season to season. Sidman’s imagery seems effortless, yet creates a sense of wonder that makes readers want to rush outside and drink in the beauty that surrounds them.
Teachers across the country have many questions about the place of poetry as they implement the CCSS. Can they even still teach poetry? Of course they can! Reading Literature Standard 4 states that students will “Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning and tone.” This begs to be addressed through poetry. Joyce Sidman’s work is a perfect place to start. Not only can students examine her figurative language and word choice, they can follow her example of mindfulness. Teaching students to view the world with awareness so they can gather their own ideas, seeds of writing to come, is just as critical as any skill listed in the standards.
Joyce Sidman’s work deserves a place in all classrooms. Indeed, the National Council of Teachers of English just named her the 2013 winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Read more about Red Sings from the Treetops and Sidman’s other books here. Congratulations, Joyce, and thank you for creating poems that remind us to always pay close attention to the world around us.
Reading to the Core 
[…] at Reading to the Core has written a beautiful post on mindfulness and the poet Joyce Sidman, the 2013 recipient of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Catherine also shares […]
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We are reading “The Odyssey”, and the often repeated phrase “Dawn spreads her rosy fingers” occurs so often, the student chant it out loud when we read aloud. This morning, I raced up the hill to school to get my iPad so I could capture this picture of the “Rosy fingers” and put it on the class wiki: https://cpenglishi.pbworks.com/f/Rosy%20fingers%20of%20Dawn.JPG
“Pink blooms, powder soft” indeed!
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Now all you need is a picture of the wine-dark sea!
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I’m thankful my mother spoon-fed us poetry as her father had done before her. It’s important for children to grow up with these beautiful sounds in their ears.
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I have many memories of Grandma reciting poetry to us. Robert Burns was her favorite!
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Thanks for spotlighting one of my fave poetry picture books of all time. LOVE Joyce’s and Pam’s work so much!
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My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by!
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“Joyce Sidman’s work is a perfect place to start.” Amen!
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Thank you for sharing Joyce Sidman’s poem – lovely! And the reminder to be mindful is so necessary in our busy world. =)
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Hear, hear! Thanks for sharing this amazing book from this mindful and generous poet. :0)
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I was just reminded of this word “mindful” the other day. A blogging friend has chosen it as her “one little word of 2013.” I will be sharing this post with her and am finding myself reminded to be more mindful as well. Thanks for sharing this beautiful post and book share.
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Hooray for championing poetry in this time of Common Core frenzy!!
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First time to your site! Love this post and second a million times what Mary Lee said! I will be back! (Have spent many summers in Lakeville and the tri-state corner area.)
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[…] written before about using poetry with students (here, here and here) and I know I’ll be writing about it again. For now, here’s a snippit of the wisdom […]
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[…] Joyce Sidman is one of my favorite poets, and I love Pamela Zagarenski’s whimsical style, so this book was a shoe-in for this list. I have written about it before here. […]
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