Look Up! Stars by Mary Lyn Ray

A STAR IS OUT.

YOU KNOW IT'S ALMOST NIGHT.

AND THE DARK THAT COMES DOESN'T FEEL SO DARK.

Our fellow humans have been stargazing since time began, it seems, seeing many things in the stars--the creatures of the zodiac, the cycle of the seasons the stories of the gods, and our human fates, but the mystery of that celestial show has never faded.

Author Mary Lyn Ray and artist Marla Frazee know that when a child first looks up in wonder at those wondrous lights in the firmament, it is an important event, and they try to capture than moment in their Stars (Beach Lane, 2012). The Caldecott winning Frazee knows how to portray the mind of a child in a gesture, a suggested movement, and their cover girl, collecting stardust in her basket shows the wonder and fun of stargazing.

WHAT IF YOU COULD HAVE A STAR?

THEY SHINE LIKE SILVER EGGS YOU COULD GATHER IN A BASKET.

But, of course, Ray points out, you can't do that. But down here on earth there are many star shapes at hand that you can touch--pumpkin flowers, golden in the sun, moss "made of green stars," snowflakes, white flowers glowing on the grass like infinitely varied, infinitesimal stars.

And there are stars you can make, cutting them from gold or silver paper, stars you can wear when you pretend to be sheriff, stars you can mount on a stick to make a magical wand, rainbow shades of stars your parents and teachers give you for doing well. You can even bundle up over your pajamas and go outside with your parents and bid the stars good night. They are always waiting.

AND EVEN IF YOU CAN'T SEE THEM, THEY'RE STILL THERE.

EVERY NIGHT, EVERYWHERE.

Mary Lyn Ray's and Marla Frazee's artistic collaboration is one of those gentle picture books which goes far in reinforcing a child's innate sense of wonder and the beauty and enigma of the starry sky in poetic prose and evocative illustrations. School Library Journal sums it up: "There are bits of humor and poetry, an engaging cast of players/star watchers, and many possibilities for pairing the book with crafts, activities, and other books, too."

Time for Poetry: The Tree That Time Built: A Selection of Nature, Science, and Imagination selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and Nancy Winston

FOSSILS
by Lilian Moore

Older than
books.
Than scrolls.
Older than
The first
tales told.
Or the first words
spoken
Are the stories...
in the long bones of dinosaurs.
The fossil
stories that begin
once upon a time.

Before Poetry Month is gone again, this is a good time to take a look at a significant new anthology, The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination (Jabberwocky, 2009), which unites a remarkable collection of poems--old and new, short and long, funny and profound--all focused broadly on nature science. Editors Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston have brought together a diverse selection of poems by a wide variety of authors, from earlier centuries (Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and William Blake) and from renowned "modern" poets (Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, Theodore Roethke, D. H. Lawrence), as well as children's poets such as Jack Prelutsky, Lilian Moore, Alice Schertle, and Hoberman herself.

The nine chapter headings are drawn from famous titles--"The Sea Is Our Mother," "Meditation on a Tortoise," and "Everything That Lives Wants to Be Free" for example. Appended are extensive notes, information on poetic forms and vocabulary, and suggestions for use of the book in the classroom. A special CD of well-known poets reading their own works and other specialized readings is included with this attractively designed book--an outstanding first choice for any school, public, or home library--even when April is past.