Library Happenings

Chad Koenen

American children’s writer Joyce Sidman is from Wayzata, Minn.  She is the author of “Butterfly Eyes and other Secrets of the Meadow.”

The books is illustrated by Beth Krommes and is our featured book of the week. The inside jacket cover reads “What creature sees colors that humans can’t? What insect hides in a nes of bubbles? What plant is poisonous to all nibblers but one?”  

In this book the reader will discover a hidden world that lies in the meadow. On your tour through this book you will need to watch the illustrations for hidden inside them are the creatures that live in the meadow.  You will learn what a Spittlebug is, you’ll also learn about dew, milkweed and butterflies, snakes, toads, goldfinch, hawks, rabbits, and foxes. This book is full of questioning poems that make the reader think about what the poem could be describing. 

Reading this to the second graders was so fun, as they studied the images and thought about the words you could almost see their little minds working at figuring out what was the answer to the poem. 

When it would be answered correctly, the other students would be so anxious to turn the page to see what the illustrator had created. This grant from the Minnesota Historical Society has provided us with wonderful books about Minnesota, the land where we live, the people we live amongst, the industries that surround us, as well as the creatures that are near.  

We are truly thankful for this grant, knowing that it will provide years of interesting reading for our students and community.

“This project has been financed in part with funds provided by the State of Minnesota from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society.”