Picture Book #8 Caldecott #2

Title:  Red Sings from Treetops

Author:  Joyce Sidman

Illustrator:  Pamela Zagarenski

Genre: Fiction
Sub genre: Poetry
Theme: Seasons can be described with color
Primary and secondary characters: A child and a puppy 
Awards:
2010 Caldecott Honor Award
Claudia Lewis Poetry Award
Minnesota Book Award
Cybilis Poetry Award
Horn Book Fanfare
Bulletin Editor's Choice
CCBC Choices 2010
New York Public Library's "100 Titles for  Reading and Sharing"
ABC "Indie" Best Book
Junior Library Quild Selection
Publication Date: 2009
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Summary:  This book begins by going through all the colors of spring through little poems that describe all things in nature in the spring. The rain even tastes green! White describes the thunderstorms. There are many examples of onomatopoeia which enhances the descriptions. Each color is personified into different things you see in the spring. For example, when it talks about the sun, it melts everything it touches. The seasons change throughout the book, and it describes them all. Finally, it describes the color red which is a little red bird in the treetop to end the book.

I would use this book to teach students about personification and poetry. This is a great way for students to relate something in their world to the skills being learned.