We're celebrating a book birthday!
Congratulations to Marilyn Singer on her latest nonfiction poetry picture book, Wild in the Streets: 20 Poems of City Animals (Quarto Publishing, 2019), which has just been released into the urban wilderness TODAY!
Concrete, glass, tarmac, steel—
who'd imagine they'd appeal
to creatures that once lived
in forests, caves, on prairies, rocks?
How did they land on city blocks,
under bridges, on rooftops
in playgrounds and drains
(even in our houses, perhaps when it rains)?
What do they eat? Where do they sleep?
Who are these beings, beloved or reviled?
What wildlife can possibly flourish
where life's no longer wild?
© 2019 Marilyn Singer, from WILD IN THE STREETS. All rights reserved.
This gorgeous and fascinating book tells the compelling stories of animals who have found homes in urban landscapes across the world. Some of them might be closer than you think! Humans may have built towns and cities, but we aren’t the only ones who live in them. Given the smallest chance—a park, a garden, a window box, a basement, a subway tunnel, a bridge—wildlife manages to survive in the city.
From the pythons traveling Singapore's sewers to the monkeys living in India's temples, from hyenas that roam the ancient Ethiopian walled city of Harar and river crabs who reside under ancient ruins in the center of Rome, to wild boars who wander the streets of Berlin, or, closer to home, coyotes who thrive in major cities like Chicago (and a slew of North American suburbs, including my own in Florida!), each colorfully illustrated spread of Wild in the Streets buzzes with city life and animal activity. The stories of these animals, foreign and familiar, are told through various poetry forms (described at the back of the book) and accompanied by informational text. Some poems are comical, some poignant, but all of them help the reader see the world in a different way.
Now I realize that the thought of a book about living with wild animals might give some readers pause (paws?), so as a precautionary measure, I thought I'd share . . .
5 easy ways to help make this book feel welcome
in your neighborhood.
All words and pictures used in this post are from WILD IN THE STREETS, copyright © 2019 by Marilyn Singer and Gordy Wright. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, an imprint of The Quarto Group, Beverly, MA.
1. Pay your respects.
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| From Wild in the Streets, text © 2019 by Marilyn Singer, illustration © 2019 by Gordy Wright. Click image to enlarge. |
2. Give flowers.
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| From Wild in the Streets, text © 2019 by Marilyn Singer, illustration © 2019 by Gordy Wright. Click image to enlarge. |
3. Invite it to dinner.
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| From Wild in the Streets, text © 2019 by Marilyn Singer, illustration © 2019 by Gordy Wright. Click image to enlarge. |
4. Offer it the best seat.
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| From Wild in the Streets, text © 2019 by Marilyn Singer, illustration © 2019 by Gordy Wright. Click image to enlarge. |
5. Sing its praises.
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| From Wild in the Streets, text © 2019 by Marilyn Singer, illustration © 2019 by Gordy Wright. Click image to enlarge. |
And one more, if you can manage it—
throw a "welcome to the neighborhood" party!
I hope you'll make WILD IN THE STREETS feel welcome in YOUR classroom, home, or library!
or . . .
Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Wild in the Streets: 20 Poems of City Animals courtesy of Quarto Publishing. Alternatively, you may send an email to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject "WILD giveaway." Entries must be received by Tuesday, September 24, 2019. The winner will be selected randomly and announced on Friday, September 27th.
