But I would also love to see more kids outside-seeing, smelling, listening, noticing-and then writing about it, writing a poem to a tree, or asking questions of a toad! A couple of innovative teachers I presented with at NCTE have developed a year-long, cross-disciplinary unit around my ‘ecosystems’ poetry books every year. “I love the outdoors-that’s why I write about it. Fans appreciate her seemingly effortless ability to weave scientific details into her work. Poetry (especially free verse) has fewer grammatical rules than prose and can be remarkably liberating for reluctant writers.”īeyond being an honored wordsmith, Sidman is known for her appreciation of the natural world.
“Reluctant learners, English language learners, or those whose minds work a little differently from the rest tend to put language together in interesting, unusual ways. A friend of mine once said that the best part about awards is the people you meet through them-the dedicated librarians who have studied your book more closely than you have or the teachers who are now using your work in their classrooms.” Today, Sidman is an award-winning poet with recognitions such as a Newbery Honor for Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), two Cybils Awards for Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006) and Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), the 2013 NCTE Award for Excellence in Children’s Poetry, and a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005). SO inspiring to hear people like James Wright and Muriel Rukeyser reading their work!” Oh, and, at my college, they had these wonderful visiting poet readings. “I came to poetry through a combination of innate fascination with the form, passionate teachers, reading a lot, and writing a lot. And the German majors were a lot more fun!” I actually learned a tremendous amount about my own language by learning German, and I read lots of cool German literature (and studied in Germany). “Honestly, the English majors at my college were too pretentious! I took many English courses, including a poetry-writing class with poet Richard Wilbur, but decided on German partly because my grandparents were German, and I wanted to master it. Sidman went on to take English courses and poetry courses in college, but chose to major in German. She began exposing us to the classics and encouraging our writing. My English teacher that year loved poetry. “I remember writing some poetry in grade school, which must have been sparked by reading/teaching, but my freshman year in high school was the most formative. Finding just the right metaphor is a deep, almost visceral thrill for me.” I love connecting one thing to another, thereby shining a new light on both things. “Poetry is especially precious to me because of its use of metaphor.
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