Dark Emperor & Other Poems of The Night

By: Joyce Sideman

Illustrated by: Rick Allen.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children Copyright Date: 2010  ISBN: 0-547-15228-0

Genre:   Children's Poetry     Format: Non-fiction

Major Awards received:  

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 2011 Honor Book Picture Book United States
Cybil Award, 2010 Finalist United States
John Newbery Medal, 2011 Honor Book United States
Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2011 Honor Book

Summary:  There is a whole other world that comes to life after the sunsets.  This book is a collection of poems about animals, plants, insects, and trees that use the cover of darkness to feed, make music, and conduct their business.  While the poems themselves explain nocturnal life, the information on the sidebar explains why these animals, plants, insects, and trees have adaptations to help them exist in a world of darkness.  This books helps brings into perspective how the creatures of the night are not something to be frightened of.

Personal response:  There were so many fascinating facts in this book that I did not know about the creatures of the night.  The pictures portray the creatures in a friendly way that does not make them seem scary.  The poems give descriptions of why the animals are nocturnal and how they use their senses differently to navigate through the darkness.  I can see myself referring back to this book for several different lessons. 

Classroom connections:  This book is one that I will read to my students at the beginning of a science lesson because they may not know about nocturnal animals and how they are an essential part of the world we live in.  While reading, I would stop periodically and ask them about their habitat and how the habitats of the animals are similar or different than theirs.  I would also have them think about how they may dress if they wanted to hide themselves in the woods and what adaptations the animals have in order to be nocturnal.  After reading, on a T-chart, we would label one side diurnal and draw a sun; and the other side label diurnal and draw a moon.  When I introduce the words diurnal and nocturnal, I would ask the students whose native language is Spanish if any parts of those words look like Spanish words they know (i.e. Nocturnal / Noche, Diurnal, Dia) and tell them this can help them remember these new English words.  

When I was looking for material on this book, I came across the website http://www.joycesidman.com/darkemperorTG.html.  This website has writing and science activities, along with preview questions to ask students about the book.  I also love the suggestion about having students find the red Eft on almost every page of the book.  This will give the students something to look at while I am reading the poems.