"Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors" by Joyce Sidman, Illustrated by Beckie Prange

Image Courtesy of: http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/_images/books/ubiquitous.jpg

Bibliographic Citation

Title: Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors

Author: Joyce Sidman

Illustrator: Beckie Prange

Year of Publication: 2010

Publisher City: Boston

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

ISBN: 9780618717194

Author Website: http://www.joycesidman.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.beckieprange.com/

Media Used for Artwork: Woodcut

Copyright 2010/2011

Awards

·         Boston Globe Top Ten Children’s Books of 2010

·         Book Links Lasting Connections for 2010

·         CYBILS Poetry Award Finalist, 2011

·         National Science Teachers Association/Children's Book Council Outstanding Science Trade Books, K-12 2011

·         Booklist Top 10 Sci-Tech for Youth, 2010

Annotation

Not only do readers find the poetry in nature, but they also learn about the science behind some of nature’s best survivors.  These survivors range from bacteria to scarabs to humans.  All are different and all have survived.

Personal Reaction

                This picture book is a great mixture of fact and creativity.  The popular belief tends to be that they two cannot work together, but Sidman and Prange’s book will change that.  When it comes to learning a subject, especially science, teaching that information in a unique way will have a greater impact then just a textbook.  Older readers will enjoy this method, especially with the poems ability to help with memorization.

                I feel that the illustrations are very accurate, which works with the text.  For example the shell illustrated for “The Mollusk That Made You” has a great amount of detail that shows visually what in discussed in the text.  The pictures are usually in the middle, dividing the poem and information paragraph.  This gives a visual beat for a reader to switch between the creative half of his or her brain to the factual half. 
               

School Curriculum: Grade 9 Science: This book can be used to teach students the different creatures that impact how Earth works.  The poems can be used as a creative way to introduce the different creatures in each section.  Then the facts can be discussed as well.  As a way to help students memorize the major points of each of these organisms a teacher can have the students write a poem, like in the picture book.