Fireflies at Midnight
PreSchool-Grade 4-From a robin's impressively cheerful greeting to the dawn through a mole's dreamy thoughts and unhurried sleep at the end of night, Singer's poems give glimpses into the lives of several creatures during one summer day. The various rhythms and unique "voices" masterfully capture the nature of the beasts, from the otter's playful insouciance ("It starts with the slide/with the mud/with the ride/Then the splash/and the dip/and the flip/and the glide") to the frog's lordly calm ("baron I'm the baron/I'm the duke/I'm the king/of this piece of the pond"). Each spread contains a verse opposite an illustration of the featured animal in its environment. Robbins's "photographic treatments" use full-color, graphically enhanced photos and photo collage for an almost painterly effect. These portraits perfectly echo the tone of the poems as subjects soar, hide, flit, and sit. Similar in tone to the author's Turtle in July (Macmillan, 1989), this book is well suited for storytime and quiet sharing as well as for units on animals and poetry.Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WICopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.