Fifteen poems explore close encounters with animals … and choosing to respond tenderly.
Whether it’s helping a hummingbird escape, respecting a bear’s habitat, admiring a heron’s beauty, or giving way to ants at a picnic, the human response in these poems is to do no harm, and to help whenever possible. The poems follow a seasonal progression, ending with a final poem that imagines where each animal might be on a winter night.
Inspired by personal experiences, Nicholas Ruddock’s poems are simply written, with a pleasing rhyme, and fun to read aloud. In the spirit of the text, Ashley Barron’s cut-paper collage illustrations portray each creature with respectful realism, in environments ranging from rural and wild to urban and suburban.
A delightful dip into poetry for young animal lovers!
Key Text Features
illustrations
poems
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6
With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
Fifteen poems explore close encounters with animals … and choosing to respond tenderly.
Whether it’s helping a hummingbird escape, respecting a bear’s habitat, admiring a heron’s beauty, or giving way to ants at a picnic, the human response in these poems is to do no harm, and to help whenever possible. The poems follow a seasonal progression, ending with a final poem that imagines where each animal might be on a winter night.
Inspired by personal experiences, Nicholas Ruddock’s poems are simply written, with a pleasing rhyme, and fun to read aloud. In the spirit of the text, Ashley Barron’s cut-paper collage illustrations portray each creature with respectful realism, in environments ranging from rural and wild to urban and suburban.
A delightful dip into poetry for young animal lovers!
Key Text Features
illustrations
poems
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6
With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
| Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Feb 6, 2024 |
| Specifications | 36 pages | 9.75 in x 8.625 in |
| Written By |
NICHOLAS RUDDOCK is a writer and physician whose novels, short stories and poetry for adults have won multiple prizes in Canada, the UK, and Ireland. Most recently, he has been shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Award. The poems in This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake, his debut children’s book, are inspired by personal experience. He lives in Guelph, Ontario with the artist Cheryl Ruddock, and, very often, with bustling hordes of their children, grandchildren and dogs. |
| Illustrated by |
ASHLEY BARRON’s vibrant cut-paper collage illustrations appear in more than twelve picture books, including Chaiwala! by Priti Maheshwari, My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf (winner of the Schneider Family Book Award), City Baby by Laurie Elmquist (a Bank Street Best Book of the Year) and Pretty Tricky by Etta Kaner (a Kirkus Best Picture Book and an Outstanding Science Trade Book). Ashley lives with her partner and three cats in Toronto, Ontario. |
| Written By |
|
NICHOLAS RUDDOCK is a writer and physician whose novels, short stories and poetry for adults have won multiple prizes in Canada, the UK, and Ireland. Most recently, he has been shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Award. The poems in This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake, his debut children’s book, are inspired by personal experience. He lives in Guelph, Ontario with the artist Cheryl Ruddock, and, very often, with bustling hordes of their children, grandchildren and dogs. |
| Illustrated by |
|
ASHLEY BARRON’s vibrant cut-paper collage illustrations appear in more than twelve picture books, including Chaiwala! by Priti Maheshwari, My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf (winner of the Schneider Family Book Award), City Baby by Laurie Elmquist (a Bank Street Best Book of the Year) and Pretty Tricky by Etta Kaner (a Kirkus Best Picture Book and an Outstanding Science Trade Book). Ashley lives with her partner and three cats in Toronto, Ontario. |
| Audience | ages 3 and up / grades P and up |
| Key Text Features | illustrations; poems |
| Common Core |
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.6 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4 |
Quaint poems, charmingly illustrated.
” —Kirkus