Friday, February 12, 2010

Poetry Friday





An Egret's DayFriends & Family know how much I love poetry. Friends & Family also know how much I love photography. So when I see both of my loves in one book, I know I am in heaven! This is the case of An Egret's Day by Jane Yolen.
The book starts with Eight Words About an Egret followed by a Haiku about them. Browsing the table of contents gives you a clear picture of the poems you will read and the information you will learn about Egrets. I love the layout of this book: stunning photographs by photographer by Jason Stemple, the thoughtful poems by Jane Yolen and a paragraph with a short information about these magnificent creatures of nature. The glossy pages and the careful pastel color pages give it all a final touch.

One of my favorite poems in the book is title...
Measure Me
by Jane Yolen

I am a tower
of strength,
a bird
of great length.
I am tall,
of much height,
a long arrow
in flight.
My wings
almost span
the full length
of a man.

Look on me
and delight
if you will,
if you can.

Isn't Jane Yolen just incredible? She is just brilliant.

Some amazing facts about Egrets that I learned from this book include:

Did you know that in the late nineteenth century, an once of egret plumes was worth an ounce of gold?
Egrets are known as the best fishermen in the animal kingdom?
Did you know that there are different names for Egrets depending of where people come from? For example, in France it is called Greande Aigrette; in Spain is called Garza Blanca; and in English is also known as the Great White Heron? Love little fascinating facts.

Hope your Friday is filled with poetry. The round up for Poetry Friday is hosted by Lee Wind today at I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?

2 comments:

Mary Lee said...

We are lucky here in a city that hosts the convergence of two rivers...oops, I got that backward -- the rivers were here first so I guess they are hosting our city...anyway, we are lucky to be able to see egrets and herons in the water and flying over us...if we pay close attention and know what to look for.

Katie Dicesare said...

Oooo Jane Yolen is brilliant! THanks for this.
Katie