Ice Cycle: Poems About the Life of Ice

Gr 3-5–Eleven poems encapsulate the life cycle of ice, with digitally rendered illustrations detailing ice’s myriad forms in a crisp, cool palette. The first poem, “Ice Is Born,” highlights the crystalline shapes that are its building blocks. Each receives its own labeled inset, reminiscent of science texts, and it’s a brilliant blending of the imaginative and factual. Poems like “Ice Grows” and “Ice Speaks” are quite lyrical, incorporating sensory imagery and onomatopoeia into the world of ice. Once “Sea Ice Is Born” appears, however, the more complex topic shifts the poetry from less melodic to more scientific pieces. The art is a smooth constant; the graphic design is exceptional, and most poems have their own spread, building a multilevel and vibrant world. Rich back matter includes an explanation of water in its three forms, user-friendly definitions, and a link to an online experiment for ice spikes.