Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow

This book holds a collection of poems together that describe life in a meadow. There are poems that tell the story of each animal that lives in a meadow. Some describe the plants, flowers, sun, or rain. There are even some poems that explain the life cycle or how some animals interact with one another. I really enjoyed the poems but the illustrations are a little overwhelming at times. One of the best features about this text is that in this book there are over five different kinds of poems: shape poems, ballads, haikus, rhyming poems, etc.

This book was not one of my most favorite poetry picture books. I did really enjoy the poems, but the illustrations are distracting. This book would definitely have to be used with upper elementary students because there are some words in the book that would be hard for younger students to understand. There is even a glossary in the back of the book that I had to use to understand what some of the poems were talking about. I would use this picture book when future students are learning about different types of poetry because this book does do a nice job at showcasing them. Students could even come up with their own after seeing the poems in this book.

Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow

Author: Joyce Sidman

Illustrator: Beth Krommes

Year Published: 2006