Featuring "On a Gold-Blooming Day"

In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous. ~ Aristotle

I fall in love with fall all over again each year. It's a golden feast of brilliance and rich colors. Mother Nature lays down the red carpet to celebrate the season's natural delights. In anticipation of fall, my friend, poet Buffy Silverman captures the vibrance of the season through the combination of photos and words in her new publication.

Published by Lerner Books

“With hashtags like #NaturePhotography, #Fall, and #NatureWalk, Twitter will light up on September 6, 2022, when Buffy Silverman's book, On a Gold-Blooming Day - Finding Fall Treasures, is published. This stunning book combines poetry and photography to create a visual feast for young readers, parents, and teachers. 

As a poet and photographer, Buffy's keen eyes spot nature scenes that want to become a poetic expression. Verbs combine with nouns for the creation of new words, rhymes flow, like rattle and skedattle, and photos share the limelight with nature herself. 

In addition to  the richness of the photo-poem book, Buffy adds back matter that enhances the reading experience for young children who are growing their vocabulary. Nonfiction descriptions of rhymed words and scenes provide content for young researchers to expand their knowledge. A glossary and further reading resources are also a bonus feature for explorers, writers, and readers. 

There is an artistic quality to the book that should not be overlooked. The visual choices of what to include are inspiring. Color photographs enhance each page. 

I recommend post-reading activities, like collage-making, narrative writing, researching  fall around the world, or creating photo books of class or individual walks, as creative endeavors. Introducing the next season through Buffy's previous book, On a Snow-Melting Day, provides students with a journey through winter as opposed to fall. 

Considering that nature photography is the art of capturing earth's beauty, Buffy excels as a writer of children's nonfiction books on seasonal beauty with this publication. In a conversation with Buffy I offered several inspirational quotes to ponder. She chose Ralph Waldo Emerson's: "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."

This quote resonates with me most.  It's easier for me to be patient with a camera in hand, watching bees buzzing in goldenrod or waiting for a crab spider to emerge from its hiding place, looking more closely as I click away. I think the appeal of photography for me is that it reminds me to slow down and observe closely.-Buffy Silverman

Buffy also mentioned that was thrilled Millbrook included a few of her photos in On a Gold-Blooming Day.

It just so happens that September 6, 2022 is not only the publication of On a Gold-Blooming Day but also National Read a Book Day. Perhaps, you will  read this book to a child or another book in anticipation of fall.

*****************

Today is Poetry Friday and children's author and poet Tanita S. Davis is hosting the event. Join me at her blog to celebrate poetry goodness this week.

She and the Poetry Sisters wrote a Bop poem for this month's challenge. Not sure what that is? Find out at Tanita's blog. Her poem is very interesting in content and context. Perhaps, I will try out this format when I have more time.