Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman Illustrated by Beckie Prange

Having learned about the essential illustrative elements of picture books and their vital tie to the picture book text I was enthralled with this book of poems. Most of the pages are illustrated with large framed pictures that apply the use of perspective to position the reader to most effectively experience the action within each poem written on the page. Each page requires a double-facing page spread, and a factual caption is included in the margin beside each double-faced illustration to supplement each poem's meaning with the facts that may be result from the curiousity illuminating the poems. The book includes poems about several pond creatures and living pond features including the water boatman and backswimmer, the wood duck, and a descriptive food chain among other living things. My favorite was about the water boatman (which was also mentioned in a poem from Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman) and the backswimmer. In the poem, "Song of the Water Boatman and Backswimmer's Refrain" both water bugs are coexisting and describing their survival habits and unique ways in a back-and-forth fashion. The waterboatman uses his legs as oars, and the backswimmer spends most of his time belly-up towards the surface of the water. The woodblock illustrations enhanced with watercolor bring out the quiet, yet vivid life in the habitat of a pond. "In the Depths of the Summer Pond" is a poem that mimics the "This is the House that Jack Built" style of chain story. Starting with the algae the poet relates the food chain of creatures who feed on the smaller creatures "in the depths of the summer pond." When reading the poem about the Wood Ducks I learned about the innate bravery of the baby ducks freely jumping out of their nests to their mother in the pond below. The factual caption describes that some ducklings survive and some don't. The illustration for this poem makes the reader sense the height of the ducklings getting ready to jump far down to the pond below. Some of the poems in this book rhyme, but most employ free verse. The figurative language effectively creates the images intended for the reader in these poems.