Poetry Across the Curriculum - Science

Yolen, J. (2010).  An Egret’s Day.  Ill. J. Stemple.  Honesdale, PA:  Wordsong.  ISBN 978-1-59078-650-5.

I chose this book of poetry when I found it on our public library shelf because our community has an interesting history with egrets.  Some of it not very nice – roosting areas wiped out and then ordered to be restored, neighborhoods unhappy with egrets roosting near their houses and the city taking steps to run them out.  But my family enjoys watching one Great Egret that stands in a small neighborhood lake just up our street.  Beautiful and majestic, he stands to the side of the pond, seeming to survey the ducks and turtles and fish before him.  I thought my six-year-old grandson Corbyn would enjoy reading poetry about a bird we see regularly.  And this book of poetry provided exactly what we needed to learn about this stately inhabitant. 

Each two-page spread includes a poem, a paragraph that gives facts and information, and one or more photos demonstrating a particular characteristic of egrets .  The rhythm and rhyme of Yolen’s poems are great for younger students (like Corbyn), but are varied.  She includes a haiku, a limerick, and poems with multiple formats of stanzas and rhyme schemes.  The prose is informative and interesting and paired with the poetry covers topics such as hunting, preening, plumes, legs and feet, size, nesting, and roosting.  The vocabulary is easy to understand in context, but introduces many words specific to the egret such as “preening” and “roost” (different from “nests”) and “splayed feet.” 

Since my high school students also live in this same community where there has been some angst with the Great Egret, this book could help some of these Young Adult community members understand egrets better, perhaps helping them be part of a solution to the problem as they become part of the decision-making process in the near future.  Poems such as “Plumes” can help illustrate some of the problems egrets have sustained.

            Plumes

            Its plumes resemble Belgian lace

            That ladies wear most any place.

            However, plumes like these should stay –

            No matter what hat makers pay –

            Upon the shoulders of the egret.

            My take on this is hardly secret.

Yolen’s son, Jason Stemple, has captured the Great Egret in fascinating photographs showing the egret in many settings and poses.  Close-ups of tracks and feathers and beaks allow the reader to get a good look at this beauty who is usually only seen from a distance.

While I’ll be introducing this volume to high school students and talking about the current events surrounding the Great Egret in our community, this book would be a wonderful addition to elementary and middle school science libraries.