Tundra swan, snake, snowflake. Bees in their hive, a vole under snow, the fly-high raven and the earth-bound wolf. The lives of these and other creatures in winter are the subject of poems by Joyce Sidman that crackle with cold and sing with warmth. “We scaled a million blooms / to reap the summer’s glow. / Now, in the merciless cold, / we share each morsel of heat, / each honeycombed crumb … / Deep in the winter hive, / we burn like a golden sun” (from “Winter Bees”). Sidman’s evocative, lyrical poems are paired with brief scientific information about each of her subjects that further illuminates the poems and their imagery. Gorgeous, stylized lino-block and digitally rendered art by Rick Allen is an elegant backdrop to a lovely, finely crafted collection. (Ages 6–10)

Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold summons forth the charms and dictates of winter. Just as Joyce Sidman captured the drama of the pond in Song of the Water Boatman and the night woods in Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, here she captures the drama of the cold.

Why don't snakes freeze to death?

How does the tiny honeybee survive frost?

Learn about the secret lives of animals happening under the snow and how it buds to spring!