Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman - Sidman Poetry

Bibliography

Sidman, Joyce. 2009. RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS: A YEAR IN COLORS. Ill. by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 978-0547014944.

Review and Critical Analysis

            RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS: A YEAR IN COLORS by Joyce Sidman presents a unique approach to the subject of the changing seasons. Instead of using words such as snowflakes in a poem about winter, or flowers in a work concerning spring, Sidman uses colors to represent the objects, smells, feelings and sounds associated with each season. In the actual text the word for the color is printed in that color ink. This reinforces the feeling of the color and gives life to the word. Each poem within the individual seasons usually focuses on only one color; however, there are poems that reference multiple colors. The colors are also repeated throughout the collection which lends uniformity to the book. None of the poems have titles, only the sections do, and they are named after each season. Sidman’s collection of over twenty poems is written in free verse, with no fixed rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. This sustains the poems, rather than detracting from them. As the seasons progress, starting with spring and ending with winter, the poems flow smoothly one into the next.

Sidman’s language is extremely visual. This can be seen in SPRING with the colors yellow and purple. Sidman writes, “In spring, Yellow and Purple hold hands. They beam at each other with bright velvet faces.” Her descriptions are drawn from nature, in this case pansies, and they are enhanced by Pamela Zagarenski’s painted illustrations. Zagarenski creates the perfect setting for Sidman’s words and brings them to visual life. The illustrations also have numerous quirky and unexpected elements in them. At first glance, they appear to be normal paintings that are based on Sidman’s poetry. If you look closer however, a different layer appears. There is a collage like quality to the illustrations giving the appearance of cut outs being added into the paintings. This is evident in the poem set in SUMMER about the color purple. The walkway in front of the house, along with the trees, resemble pages cut out of a book. In addition, the paisley like details on the house appear to have originated elsewhere and been cut out and added to Zagarenski's painting. The majority of the figures, whether person or animal or snowman, are wearing crowns. In many of the illustrations the name of the season is incorporated in an unexpected way. This technique is demonstrated in WINTER with the color pink. The word winter is written all along the female figure’s scarf, reminiscent of a striped pattern on the fabric.

The poems in this collection contain both movement and sound effects. This is evident in the season of SUMMER with the color red, “Red darts, jags, hovers; a blur of wings, a sequined throat. Red whispers along my finger with little beetle feet.” In this particular poem Sidman is referring to a hummingbird and a ladybug. It is the hummingbird that hovers, and the ladybug that whispers. In the season of SPRING, describing the color white, Sidman states, “White sounds like storms: snapped twigs and bouncing hail, blink of lightning and rattling BOOM!” Here, the white relates to a thunder storm and the noises coming from the white cloud and thunderbolt. The sounds are lively and exciting, they will help hold reader’s or listener’s interest.  Also, since the poetry incorporates a lot of movement, the cadence has a smooth, rapid flow.

          The colors not only represent objects, but also how those objects feel and smell as well. There is a strong element of personification in many of the poems in this collection. An excellent example of this can be found in SUMMER with the color black, “Black holds secrets in summer: night-sky Black, underneath-stones Black.” Sidman is assigning human qualities to the objects represented by the color black, making them secretive and mysterious.  In FALL, through the color purple, Sidman writes, “Fall smells Purple: old leaves, crushed berries, squishy plums with worms in them.” Here Sidman takes many purple objects found in fall and focuses on how they smell. That combined smell is, to her, what the season itself smells like. 

Poem Used to Support Critical Analysis and How That Poem Would Be Introduced

From the section entitled SUMMER

By: Joyce Sidman

And where is Blue?

Humming, shimmering,

snoozing in the lazy haze.

Dancing on water

with Yellow and Green.

In summer,

Blue grows new names:

turquoise,

    azure,

       cerulean.

         Sidman’s poem from SUMMER is demonstrative of her affinity for incorporating motion and sound. In this poem, blue represents the butterflies that fly about lazily on the summer air, humming as they go. Also, the yellow and green are references to fish that jump out of the blue ocean water. Here the fish present another look at personification. Sidman brings the colors to life by literally having them dance.

            I would introduce this poem by asking the students, “When you think of the colors blue, green and yellow, in relation to summer, what do you think of?” After everyone has had time to answer I would say, “I am now going to read you a poem by Joyce Sidman. In it she is going to describe what those colors mean to her when she thinks of summer.” While reading I would also exhibit Zagarenski’s vivid illustrations so listeners could see all of the objects Sidman references in her poetry.