Author of the Month Joyce Sidman

Dusk fell
and the cold came creeping,
came prickling into our hearts.

Winter has arrived in Chicago and everyone, animals included, is preparing for a long, cold season. How do animals survive in the winter?

While some animals travel south, many animals are built for the cold. Learn about a few animals, and even some plants, that have special adaptations to survive in our frigid climate in Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold, the latest by Newbery Honor-winning author and poet and December's Author of the Month, Joyce Sidman.

Questions and Activities

• Why do you think the author named the book after the "Winter Bees" poem?
• Write an acrostic poem about your favorite winter animal.
• The illustrations in this book are made with carved linoleum blocks. Try your hand at simple woodblock painting.
• Do any of the animals in this book live in your neighborhood? What adaptations do the animals in your neighborhood have to survive the cold winter?
• Create your own origami swan.
• The "Big Brown Moose" poem is a persona poem, a poem written as if the moose were the author of the poem. Choose your favorite animal and write a persona poem. How would you write a persona poem about an object that is not alive?
• One of the poems talks about the symbiotic relationship of wolves and ravens. What other animals can you think of that have this type of relationship?
• Try your hand at engineering 3D snowflakes.

Discover even more about Sidman in our Q&A about her writing process.