A Caldecott medalist and a Newbery Honor-winning poet celebrate the beauty and value of spirals.What makes the tiny snail shell so beautiful? Why does that shape occur in nature over and over again—in rushing rivers, in a flower bud, even inside your ear?
With simplicity and grace, Krommes and Sidman not only reveal the many spirals in
nature—from fiddleheads to elephant tusks, from crashing waves to spiraling galaxies—
but also celebrate the beauty and usefulness of this fascinating shape.
Swirl by Swirl
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Check out the 2013 award winners for children's literature and illustration. |
Book Description
Best Value
Editorial Reviews
Review
"The open-ended quality of the verse and the visual nature of the subject create plenty of opportunities for the art. The striking scratchboard illustrations use black lines, shapes, and crosshatched shading on white backgrounds to create strong compositions, while watercolor washes add subtle warmth and brilliance. . .There are, of course, many school uses for this, but just reading it aloud at home will make the everyday fascinating."—Booklist, starred review
"The observations, from a few words to a couple sentences, are tucked neatly into Krommes’s gorgeous scratchboard spreads."—School Library Journal, starred review
"Exquisitely simple and memorable."—Kirkus, starred review
"From the endpapers that gather together all the spirals depicted to the spiraling text on the title page verso, this book is elegantly constructed, and as poetry, picture book, or nonfiction, a success in every way."—The Horn Book, starred review
"This is one of those rare children’s books that make you look at the physical world differently. . .spirals are beautiful—whether we see in them hints of infinity, the promise of unfolding potential, or the embodiment of mathematical perfection."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
About the Author
Joyce Sidman lives in Minnesota, where she looks for shapes in nature every day. joycesidman.com
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Joyce Sidman is known for her fresh, inventive poetry for children. Her award-winning books include Dark Emperor (A Newbery Honor Book), Song of the Water Boatman and Red Sings from Treetops (both Caldecott Honor Books), Butterfly Eyes (Cybils Award), and This Is Just to Say (Claudia Lewis Poetry Award). A recent starred review in School Library Journal said, "Sidman's ear is keen, capturing many voices. Her skill as a poet accessible to young people is unmatched." Born in Connecticut, Joyce now lives in Minnesota. Visit her at www.joycesidman.com.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Swirl by Swirl is a beautiful book celebrating the natural world. The illustrations are bold and lush and totally unique. The text is simple, with one line per page, making this a perfect choice for a picture book audience or a beginning reader. What is amazing about this book is that it so perfectly captures the vastness and variety of the natural world by examining one simple shape - the spiral. From the curled up chipmunk sleeping in it's den ("it's a snuggling shape"), to the spiral of a funnel cloud ("It twists through air with clouds on it's tail"), this book is a wonderful intro to shapes that exist in nature and is sure to encourage young readers to spot their own spirals.
Apart from all the beautiful pictures and poetic text, this book also provides the names of each species or spiral object shown. Turn to the back and you will see a short paragraph on each featured item, giving such facts as: "The Nautilus forms a sturdy home by curling around itself as it grows, adding to its shell at the outer lip", and "Galaxies, which are huge groups of millions or billions of stars, are often spiral shaped. No one knows exactly why...".
This is a beautiful intro to natural science for any preschool or lower elementary student. It's a great choice for group sharing or any child's personal collection. Use it as a starting point for discussions about the world around you and you will soon be going off on shape searches of your own.
Apart from all the beautiful pictures and poetic text, this book also provides the names of each species or spiral object shown. Turn to the back and you will see a short paragraph on each featured item, giving such facts as: "The Nautilus forms a sturdy home by curling around itself as it grows, adding to its shell at the outer lip", and "Galaxies, which are huge groups of millions or billions of stars, are often spiral shaped. No one knows exactly why...".
This is a beautiful intro to natural science for any preschool or lower elementary student. It's a great choice for group sharing or any child's personal collection. Use it as a starting point for discussions about the world around you and you will soon be going off on shape searches of your own.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From snail shells and sheep horns to tornados and galaxies, spirals occur over and over in our world. This is the unifying concept of Joyce Sidman's lovely new book, Swirl by Swirl. Each page takes us through a different aspect of nature's spirals: chipmunks and woodchucks "coiled tight, warm and safe," lady ferns "unwrapping themselves," elephant trunks "clinging tight."
The author and illustrator are both top notch. Joyce Sidman won the 2011 Newberry Honor for her book Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, and Beth Krommes won the 2009 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations of The House in the Night. Together they create an artistic and poetic journey through nature, each page filled with motion and resonance.
Geared towards preschool and elementary school age children, this is a wonderful book for helping children to observe the shapes they see in nature. Each illustration has detailed labels of the objects pictured, and there's a wonderful explanatory index at the back of the book, making it a great supplemental book for teaching science.
The author and illustrator are both top notch. Joyce Sidman won the 2011 Newberry Honor for her book Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, and Beth Krommes won the 2009 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations of The House in the Night. Together they create an artistic and poetic journey through nature, each page filled with motion and resonance.
Geared towards preschool and elementary school age children, this is a wonderful book for helping children to observe the shapes they see in nature. Each illustration has detailed labels of the objects pictured, and there's a wonderful explanatory index at the back of the book, making it a great supplemental book for teaching science.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is beautiful. It engaged my children from the first page. They started a great conversation about this shape in the world. I highly recommend it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature
My wife loves the story and the illustrations and recommends it to adults and children. It was received in very good condition.
Published 1 month ago by john piskora
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nature Book
My son LOVES this book. We spend a lot of time on each page looking at all the swirls and discussing the pictures as well as looking for swirls in our own world. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kellee
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gorgeous, wise book
This is a beautiful elegant and simply profound book, and as delightful for parents I think as it is for children.
Published 3 months ago by David D. Derauf
3.0 out of 5 stars
Swirl by Swirl
Fun book but at times it seems like it wants to rhyme and then doesn't. Good for kids haven't seen any others out there on geometry of swirls seems to be a forgotten shape
Published 3 months ago by ANelson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book!!!
I bought this book for my grandchildren and it has become a fast favorite. It really opens your eves to the world around you but mostly to swirls. Read more
Published 4 months ago by C. Melander
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unusually descriptive.
I consider my rating a fair one for me, but would be happy to recommend it to several of my artist friends
Published 4 months ago by Eleanor M Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
Swirl by Swirl book
So beautiful and full of details. Our little guy loves to talk about the snails and all the swirls he sees.
Published 4 months ago by L. Auer
1.0 out of 5 stars
Swirl of Swirl is not my kind of reading
I was very disappointed by this purchase........didn't really have a story. It might be okay for some looking at this type of reading but not for me.....
Published 5 months ago by mary jo bergman
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not much there, disappointed
Expected more content. There really is not much I can say about this book. Would not consider purchasing any more by this author.
Published 5 months ago by Christian reader
3.0 out of 5 stars
Get the hardcopy
Great book to share with kids, which is why I got it. Unfortunately, having it on my Kindle doesn't do it justice. Read more
Published 5 months ago by seuss
