Book Review: Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski.

1.    BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sidman, Joyce, and Pamela Zagarenski. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009. ISBN: 0803729251.

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Joyce Sidman takes her readers through a colorful, year-long journey. Each season features descriptions of the earth in color, but the colors change with the passing seasons. In Spring, yellow is the color of goldfinches, but in summer it melts over everything and tastes like salt. In Fall, yellow is the color of school buses, but in winter, there is no yellow anywhere. Browns, greens, purples, blues, whites, blacks, oranges, and pinks are all depicted in this colorful story with fanciful illustrations.

3.     CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Red sings from the Treetops is Sidman’s expression of the transformation of the world with each new season. She carefully chooses colors that match events of the season. In Spring, flowers bloom and birds hatch. In Summer, the lake is deep blue and the evenings are long and purple. Fall finds browns and oranges in abundance while Winter is full of whites and blacks. The language of the poems is very beautiful and full of imagery: “In Spring, even the rain tastes green.” Pup, the narrator’s dog, is also featured throughout the poetry, as well as the illustrations. The rhythm of the prose is irregular, which helps depict the change of color well.

Zagarenski’s illustrations are each a carefully crafted collage. Her colorful character dances through the pages with a crown on her head. Pup follows along, also wearing a crown. In fact, crowns are something to look for throughout the illustrations as they show up in interesting places in every picture. Kids will have fun noticing who or what is wearing crowns in each collage. For that matter, the illustrations are rife with interesting details. There is a whale in the night sky of Fall, for example, but he blends in so well that it feels as though there should always be whales in the night sky.

Zagarenski’s illustrations are highly textured and very colorful. Even when they are fanciful, they are fascinating. The redbirds released in the first picture, fly through the book and turn up again and again. The small fox, almost unnoticed, trails along as well. The pictures are so detailed and so interesting that they are bound to captivate everyone. In fact, the illustrations are what really make this book fascinating.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Caldecott Honor Book

Starred Review, BOOKLIST: “As the title implies, the colors that surprise on every page, do sing.”

Starred Review, THE HORN BOOK: “Sustaining the playfulness of the text and its sense of awe, mystery, and beauty, the illustrations contribute gracefully to the celebration.”

Starred Review, KIRKUS: “A charming inspiration to notice colors and correlate emotions.”

5. CONNECTIONS

* Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors would be a fun book to use in a study of different illustration techniques.

*Some more picture books with a variety of illustration techniques:

Henkes, Kevin. Kitten's First Full Moon. [New York]: Greenwillow Books, 2004. ISBN: 0060588284.

Hill, Laban Carrick., and Bryan Collier. Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave. New York: Little, Brown, 2010. ISBN: 031610731X.

Millen, C. M., and Andrea Wisnewski. The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2010. ISBN: 1580891799.

Sidman, Joyce, and Beth Krommes. Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011. ISBN: 054731583X.

Willems, Mo. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2003.ISBN: 078681988X.