Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies (review)

Known for her prose nonfiction, Davies here presents as a poet in this collection of over fifty short poems about animals ranging from blue whales to fireflies. The verses vary in format from rhymed couplets to prose poems, some imparting information about the animal (storks used to nest on cartwheels placed on roofs to invite them but now prefer pylons) that fits within the theme of the section and others just giving an impressionistic sketch; at the end of each of the five sections, there's also a prose factual feature giving a quick overview of a characteristic, such as tool-using or coloration. Davies' poetry is uneven, with some of the rhymes and meter strained, but the compact introductions to a gallery of animals are inviting. And gallery is the operative word here, because the art is stunning: mixed-media illustrations combine paint, pencil, and collage layers with touches of resist techniques in intensely hued full-bleed spreads that move readers from verdant jungle to cobalt seas to golden savanna. Styles move from the delicate glory of a dizzying array of beetles to a pack of expressionistic wolves to a cloud of silky, skeiny, nearly abstract jellyfish. While elementary readers may enjoy poring over this title on their own, its most satisfying use will be a listener's choice or section-at-a-time readaloud so viewers can gaze at the art uninterrupted while somebody else transmits the text. There is no index, but a table of contents lists the poems. DS