Book Review: Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman

Bibliographic Citation:

Joyce Sidman. 2011. Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature. New York; NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN: 9780547315836

Review:

Wow, if you are looking for a book that has the opportunity to teach multiple Science concepts while having fun. Look no further! Joyce Sidman has a created a beautiful book of poetry that not only is fun to read but also teaches you a thing or two. The creativity in this book is brimming with new ideas for students to latch onto to start their own research and exploration. The entire book revolves around finding the spiral shape in nature. Sidman's clever poems describe these natural spirals and the importance behind this shape. At the end of the book, there is a glossary that explains each part. For example, one section is labeled a spiral is a snuggling shape and it describes the animals mentioned in the illustrations and how a spiral relates to their sleeping habits. 

The words that Sidman uses, beautifully illustrate mental images and flow smoothly across the page leaving the reader eager to turn the page. I liked how she started each new poem with "A spiral...." and a new description. This makes it easy for young readers to know that she is moving on to another topic. Students of all ages, will love this book and teachers and parents will appreciate all of the learning that will go on. As a former third grader teacher and now a librarian, I can see myself using this book across many different topics for many different grade levels. 

The illustrations by Beth Krommes are amazing and entrancing at the same time. She does a great job creating the image that is produced by Sidman's words. The dark colors are appealing to the eyes and the swirls are highlighted on each page which draws in the readers attention every time. I enjoyed searching throughout the pictures to find the swirls in nature and know that the kids will have fun too. The illustrations are scratchboard and that gives the pictures an very interesting texture that only adds to the elaborate drawings. 

All in all, I would highly recommend this book to any child who loves nature and learning more about Science. It is not only educational but a fun read too!

Spotlight Poem:

A spiral moves. 

It swirls through water,

gathering bubbles. 

It twists through air

with clouds on its tail. 

Activity: 

This poem was my favorite part because I could automatically see the tie in with a 3rd grade Science TEK. In third grade, students learn about hurricanes and tornadoes and what better way to introduce this concept by reading this poem? This poem points out the shape of each natural disaster and really creates a mental image for the students to relate to. A fun activity that could go along with this poem, would be to have the students act out the motions of the hurricane and tornado while reading the poem. Students could also illustrate these natural disasters just by hearing the words and not seeing the illustrations. The activities are endless!