DARK EMPEROR & OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sidman, Joyce. 2010. Dark Emperor and other poems of the night Ill. By Rick Allen. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 978-0-547-15228-8

PLOT SUMMARY
This poetic anthology combines poetry and science. Sidman explores the nocturnal world through poems describing various living organisms, from the mushroom to the oak tree to the owl, and how they thrive, or survive, the night world. Each poem is paired with a nonfiction prose, so the reader is brought into the drama of the night with poetry, but conceptual understanding is supported with prose. As an illustrator, Rick Allen uses dark and bold colors to draw your eyes into the picture and each specific poem’s theme. There are twelve poems altogether.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sidman and Allen are a poetic force in this anthology. The layout of the book is simple to follow. Each poetic theme is a double-page spread. The poem is on the left, and the nonfiction prose on the right. There is a minor illustration on each left page to support the poem, but not overshadow it. On the right, the elements switch. There is a major illustration, but the nonfiction prose sits to the right, allowing the illustration to take center stage. When Sidman writes about the owl on the left, Allen’s unsuspecting mouse looms large in the foreground on the right, while the owl perches with preying eyes above it. In this same way, each illustration captures the theme of every poem.  Kids will be drawn first to the picture, which is important, because the illustration will support their  understanding of the imagery of the poem.

As a poet, Sidman varies forms across the anthology. In “Welcome to the Night” and “Oak After Dark,” kids will enjoy the rhyme scheme of creep, peep, sleep and bark, dark, hill, fill. The word choice for line break rhymes give these poems a night effect. In “Dark Emperor,” Sidman masterfully features the concrete poem, with the image of the owl projecting from the text. In “Night-Spider’s Advice,” the spider narrates the poem in a quick rhythm, matching the speed of a spider spinning its web:

Build a frame

                                                       and stick with it,
                                                       I always say.

                                          Page 16

In “I Am a Baby Porcupette,” the title repeats as the first line of every stanzaa. This arrangement allows the line to become a sound effect as the baby porcupette describes her nocturnal life. Sidman’s concise language contrasts images of the porcupette's soft fur and threatening quills:

                                 I am a baby porcupette.
                                 My fur is soft; my eyes are jet.
                                 But I can deal with any threat:
                                 I raise my quills
                                              and pirouette.
                                                                             Page 18

The nonfiction prose is equally as well written, with vivid verbs playing a prominent role in the text. Sidman brings the nonfiction prose to life as mushroom hairs “swell” and “push,” while the eft “roams” and the bat “scoops.” The prose supports the poem, but does not overtake it. Even the font of the nonfiction is slightly smaller than the poetry font.

An important text feature for DARK EMPEROR is the 20-word glossary at the end. Sidman defines 19 science words and one poetic form, the ubi sunt, which is featured in the final poem.

As an illustrator, Rick Allen used a technique called relief printing. This mirrors the nature theme of the book. For each relief print, Allen superimposed the drawing onto linoleum, which was then adhered to wood. After cutting away the image with a sculpting tool, the impression was covered with ink to create a block. Each image in the book used at least three blocks to construct the final picture. From the blocks, the final image was crafted and then hand painted. Although a long process, the result is that each illustration has a grainy look which matches the outdoor imagery of the poems themselves.

Rick Allen makes use of the front and back end papers, too. In the front, the illustration reveals a two-page spread of a sunset with the owl and the nocturnal world awakening. At the back, the papers feature a sunrise, with the owl again looking on as the nocturnal world goes to sleep. These illustrations beautifully bookend the anthology itself.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “The 12 poems are led by a scene setting ‘Welcome to the Night’ and go on to feature 9 different creatures and some mushrooms with a concluding lament by the moon as night fades into morning.”

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: “The thrilling title poem captures the drama of predator and prey: a mouse in the undergrowth flees an owl's hooked face.”

CONNECTIONS

• Use these poems as an exploration of poetic forms. Kids will especially love taking an animal form to create a concrete poem, like “Dark Emperor” and its owl.
• Choose a science topic for research, then create an end product to match the layout of the book. Write a poem to display on the left with a minor illustration, then a large illustration with a nonfiction research paragraph on the right.