The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination
is an amazing and beautiful poetry anthology supporting both science and language arts curriculum standards, as well as opportunities for critical thinking. But, I suspect, any time you attach the word “evolution” to something, you are limiting some of its audience. And that is such a shame. The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination
is one of those books that teaches without effort and flows from knowledge to art easily. Strong examples of figurative language, scientific study and critical thinking are married to artistic expression. There are over 100 poems and an accompanying audio CD presenting 44 of them, most read by their authors. The footnotes, added to many of the poems, are especially helpful in teaching. They tie science, nature, and art to background knowledge (or build new knowledge, for that matter) and extend the poems critical thinking possibilities. They offer teachers opportunities to seize those special “ah, ha!” moments, so wonderful within the profession. The end features a glossary of terms and book suggestions for further explorations. A final ‘About the Poets’ section is just icing on the cake.
Lets not forget to mention that The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination
is also a beautiful book in hand. The publisher has taken the extra time to choose rich papers and strong design elements to add even more depth of presentation. In a world of growing digital media, this book lover can certainly appreciate that effort. Highly recommended! The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination
is a must for all (elementary & secondary) language arts and science classrooms and libraries. I will be passing this one along to my own school’s science teacher :-)
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Genre: Poetry. Age: 9-12. Pages: 224.Themes: Science, Nature, Beauty, Art
Thank You to Sourcebooks for my lovely copy; I'll be passing this one around!
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. Date: October 2009.
ISBN-13: 978-1402225178
Buy The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination Here
Boston's NPR affiliate has a nice interview with the authors. Scroll down to the 5th interview to listen: HERE.
Mary Ann Hoberman is our Children's Poet Laureate. She lives in Connecticut and has four children and five grandchildren. She always knew she wanted to be a writer. You can read more about her on her website. Her co-writer is Linda Winston, a teacher and cultural anthropologist, you can read more about her on her publisher's website. ____________________________________________________________
© 2007-2009 Cheryl Vanatti. www.ReadingRumpus.com 
