ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
LITERATURE
Sidman, Joyce

Dear Acorn (Love, Oak): Letter Poems to Friends

40 pp. | Clarion | September, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780358334767 $19.99
(1) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. In eight pairs of poems, Sidman creates dialogues between two subjects, some in nature (cloud and droplets), some human-made elements (button and coat). For example, in the first poem, an oak addresses an acorn: “I feel you there / a tickle at my twig tips.” The tree forecasts: “The next stop is earth. / Then years upon years / until you see this sky / this high / again.” Acorn responds with an acorn-shaped concrete poem: “I know I must drop and sleep and / sprout and grow. So slow!” The first-person voice in each poem is strong, offering an invitation, an homage, or a vivid self-portrait. The connections and contrasts between the two entities in each poem pair are appealing and ­compelling; ­readers may even glean metaphorical meanings about the connections between all things. The poems are full of musical alliteration, vivid sensory imagery, and clever perspectives; some rhyme, but many are in free verse. Sweet’s colorful, textured mixed-media collage art enhances these inventive pieces. Each individual poem appears on a double-page spread with layers of images tied to the work’s meaning, and her palette moves from vibrant pink to intense turquoise to buttery yellow, with swirls of circles, cut-out blocks, and apparently hand-drawn letters all blending dramatically together. A note on “­Writing Letter Poems” offers helpful steps for young readers.
Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

RELATED 

LITERATURE

Delicious!
by Larios, Julie
LITERATURE

Book of Questions / Libros de las preguntas
by Neruda, Pablo
LITERATURE

Out of This World
by Walker, Sally M.
LITERATURE

Zoobilations!
by Florian, Douglas
LITERATURE

At the Pond
by Elliott, David
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?