Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature

by Joyce Sidman, Beth Krommes (Illustrator)

Overview

A Caldecott medalist and a Newbery Honor-winning poet celebrate the beauty and value of spirals.What makes the tiny snail shell so beautiful? Why does that shape occur in nature over and over again—in rushing rivers, in a flower bud, even inside your ear?

With simplicity and grace, Joyce Sidman's poetry paired with Beth Krommes's scratchboard illustrations not only reveal the many spirals in nature—from fiddleheads to elephant tusks, from crashing waves to spiraling galaxies—but also celebrate the beauty and usefulness of this fascinating shape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547315836
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/04/2011
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	399,124
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD510L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

The Newbery Honor winner and Sibert Medalist Joyce Sidman is today's foremost nature poet for children.  Accolades for her books include two Caldecott Honors, a Lee Bennet Hopkins Award, winner of the Claudia Lews Award, and many stars and best of lists.  For her award-winning body of work, she won the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She lives in Wayzata, Minnesota. Visit www.joycesidman.com

 

 

Beth Krommes is the Caldecott Winning illustrator of The House in the Night  and other beautifully illustrated, much-acclaimed picture books like Swirl by Swirl, and  Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow. She lives in Peterborough, NH. Visit her online at www.bethkrommes.com.

Editorial Reviews

This is one of those rare children’s books that make you look at the physical world differently. “A spiral is a clever shape. It is graceful and strong,” writes Newbery Honor artist Sidman (Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night), as she and Caldecott Medalist Krommes (The House in the Night) explore spirals found in nature. A spiral, Sidman decides, is nature’s elegant solution in many respects: “It fits neatly in small places” (hence the sleeping position of burrow-dwelling animals), it offers protection and strength (the defensive curl of the porcupine), and it provides firm grasps (monkey’s tail, elephant’s trunk). But beyond these utilitarian advantages, spirals are beautiful—whether we see in them hints of infinity, the promise of unfolding potential, or the embodiment of mathematical perfection. This feast for thought is a visual banquet, as well: working in her signature scratchboard style and employing a gorgeous burnished palette, Krommes creates spiral-packed nature scenes that have a timeless, classic beauty. Whether she’s portraying a tiny curled eastern chipmunk or a classic funnel tornado, it’s clear that nature isn’t the only master at work. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"The open-ended quality of the verse and the visual nature of the subject create plenty of opportunities for the art. The striking scratchboard illustrations use black lines, shapes, and crosshatched shading on white backgrounds to create strong compositions, while watercolor washes add subtle warmth and brilliance. . .There are, of course, many school uses for this, but just reading it aloud at home will make the everyday fascinating."—Booklist, starred review "The observations, from a few words to a couple sentences, are tucked neatly into Krommes’s gorgeous scratchboard spreads."—School Library Journal, starred review "Exquisitely simple and memorable."—Kirkus, starred review "From the endpapers that gather together all the spirals depicted to the spiraling text on the title page verso, this book is elegantly constructed, and as poetry, picture book, or nonfiction, a success in every way."—The Horn Book, starred review "This is one of those rare children’s books that make you look at the physical world differently. . .spirals are beautiful—whether we see in them hints of infinity, the promise of unfolding potential, or the embodiment of mathematical perfection."—Publishers Weekly, starred review —

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 3—Concentrating on a single shape, this title is aimed at a slightly younger audience than Sidman's previous explorations of nature. The text considers various aspects of the shape, from snuggling animals curled in underground burrows to expanding rings of stars in a spiral galaxy. The shapes uncoil to reveal leafy fern fronds or clasp tightly like a spider monkey's tail around a branch. The observations, from a few words to a couple sentences, are tucked neatly into Krommes's gorgeous scratchboard spreads. Rich, deep colors enhance panoramas of marine creatures moving through curling ocean waves or a close-up view of dew glinting on the web of an orb spider. Plants and animals are labeled in small type, and more information about many of them is provided in the endnotes. However, even without the added details, the book will encourage youngsters to look for spirals in their own surroundings. Another first-rate volume from the author and illustrator of Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow (Houghton Harcourt, 2006)—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato

School Library Journal

"A spiral is a snuggling shape" is the somewhat homely observation that begins Sidman's brief and graceful poem—she goes on to catalog and celebrate the ways that spirals manifest themselves in the physical and natural world in a way that will draw in the youngest listeners.

Krommes' dense and richly colored scratchboard illustrations, with their closely packed and neatly labeled creatures, plants and natural phenomena, create a feeling of abundance and profusion, with so many parts of the world nestled together in swirls and spirals—effectively demonstrating its fundamental nature. The author and illustrator examine spirals as coiled and protective (fiddlehead ferns, a curled hedgehog) as well as bold and releasing (curls on ocean waves, a spiral galaxy). They further offer observations on the ways that plants and animals use the spiral structure for strength or support (a monkey's tail clinging to a branch, a spider's web constructed between twigs). Two pages of notes at the end offer a definition ("Spiral: a shape that curls around a center point"), details that elaborate on the poem and explain some of the individual manifestations of spirals and a brief nod to the Fibonacci sequence.

Exquisitely simple and memorable. (Informational picture book. 2-8)

Kirkus Reviews