Harrison, David L. Sounds of Rain: Poems of the Amazon. Photo. Doug Duncan. Wordsong, 2006.
Type: Works of Literature/ Poetry
Annotation:
Through a collection of poems and photography, Sounds of Rain seeks to give its audience an understanding of how the Amazon rain forest looks, feels, smells, and sounds. Its poems reveal the hierarchy of the animals that live there. Poems describe the activities of insects, the varied sounds of birds, and the movement of water whether as rain or river. Photographs of the wildlife, native peoples, and the landscape are included to add depth to the power of the poetry.
Review:
Recommendation
I would recommend this book for older elementary children (grades four to six). The poetry is more complex than would be appropriate for children of younger ages. Older elementary children would be able to appreciate and understand the use and placement of the words in the poems.
Use
I would use this book as part of a unit for a class studying either forms of poetry or studying characteristics of rain forests. In a poetry unit I would have students compare the poems to those of other authors or I would have them each select their favorite poem from the book, ask them to draw a picture to match it, and even have them share their drawing and explain their poem choice to the class. In a rain forest unit I would have each student draw different characters/animals described in the poems and make one big rain forest collage on a bulletin board in the classroom displaying their artwork.
Artwork
The artwork in Sounds of Rain is in the form of photography. It is appropriate for the text in that it depicts striking examples of the types of landscapes and wildlife described by the poems. The photos give the reader a sense of “being there.” I also like that most of the poems are written on pieces of paper that look like they have been ripped from a notebook. This makes me feel as if I am reading poems from a journal that the author kept as he was traveling through the Amazon.