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Gr 1-6 This volume of beautifully illustrated poems investigates the natural world, from the single-celled bacteria and diatom to the ever-present ant and dandelion. Well-researched science facts are paired with vivid poems to describe how these very special life-forms avoided extinction to become nature's survivors. The book begins 4.6 billion years ago with a newly formed Earth and continues through time as it introduces 14 types of life that are still with us today. Starting with bacteria (3.8 billion years old) and including mollusks (500 million ye...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

From the creators of Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems (rev. 5/05), fourteen additional deft poems extended by background information and entrancing illustrations. This time, we humans are put in our place: as a concluding note points out, "99 percent of all species that have ever existed are now extinct." The survivors here range from bacteria (nearly four billion years) to us (one hundred thousand), from ancient (mollusks) to newcomers (crows). The poems vary in tone and form: "Sharks" is a concrete poem, from "snout bristl...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

As Sidman points out, "99 percent of all species that have ever existed are now extinct." In her fourteen poems, the survivors...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

This winning combination of poetry, nonfiction, and illustration begins with a looping, maze-like evolutionary time line on the endpapers. The graphic puts into eye-opening perspective how long these survivors have been in existence in relation to Earth’s 4.6 billion years. Fourteen groups or species are then introduced, following the time lin...Log In or Sign Up to Read More