Winter Eyes

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Florian, Douglas. 1999.  Winter Eyes. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 978688164584

PLOT SUMMARY

Winter Eyes offers twenty-eight poems celebrating the diversity of experiences and various aspects of all things found during the winter season.  A variety of poems explore the wonder, and enchantment found both inside and outside during this snowy season.  Conversely, there are several poems which bemoan the harsh weather and burdensome logistics of everyday living in a colder climate during winter.  Finally, after the long and dreary days of winter are coming to an end, the final poem draws the reader into the promises spring offers.  From simple rhyming poems to playful shape poems, this collection appeals to readers young and old alike.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Winter Eyes, by author and illustrator Douglas Florian, is a thematic collection of poems exploring the winter season.  This individual poet compilation is comprised of twenty-eight poems and accompanying illustrations.  A table of contents reveals the thoughtful arrangement of the poems in this collection.

This collection is geared towards a younger reader, although the simplicity and thoughtfulness of the poem’s subjects hold a universal appeal.  The collection includes a variety of unique rhyming patterns and styles.  Many of the poems have simple rhyming schemes.  Examples include the ABAC ABAC ABB pattern used in Winter Hues (p. 14) and the AA BB CC pattern found in Winter Tracks (p. 24).  However, several poems follow a simple rhyming scheme with an added, fun twist.  For example, Icicles (p. 25) uses a AA BB CDC pattern.  

At first glance, many of the poems appear to follow a free verse pattern.  However, closer inspection often reveals they employ creative, unique rhyming schemes, a signature of Florian’s poetry, that introduce new sounds in unexpected or unusual places.  The rhyming scheme for Cabin Fever (p. 31), with a pattern of ABCB DEFE GHIH JKLK MNOP, is a little crazy, just like the name of its title notes.  Similarly, Snow Man, Snow Woman employs a rhyming pattern of AA BA CDAE combined with the alliteration of an “s” sound in the last stanza, “Except when humans Are asleep” (p. 27).

There is also a handful of fun, whimsical shape poems.  For example, Untitled (p. 26) utilizes a linear pattern meant to illustrate the path of “Two falling flakes by chance did meet […] Till they hit the street” (p. 26).  Similarly, Figure 8 follows the shape of the number “8” laying on its side, “In wintertime I love to skate a great gigantic figure eight” (p. 45).  This poem is paired with an illustration of a girl figure skating and drawing a large figure eight pattern on the ice.

The majority of the poems in this collection have an accompanying illustration.  The style of the artwork is simplistic and reminiscent of a child’s artwork.  This stylistic presentation is most evident in the proportions of the various human and animal figures, structures, and landscape scenes.  Images that often appear to be constructed of lines drawn with crayons or colored pencils are paired with the subtle variations of watercolor paints.   

The tone of the pictures is often subdued with multiple shades of brown, grey, and blue.  The landscape is often depicted using various shades of brown contrasted with the stark white of snow.  One notable exception is the illustration accompanying The Winter Sun which stretches across two pages (p. 18-19).  The dark orange color of the moody sun is contrasted with a pale yellow and black stormy sky, echoing the line, “The winter sun’s a grumpy guy […] His disposition’s grim and bleak” (p. 18).

Bright primary colors are used throughout the collection to represent the heavy winter clothing people wear during this season. These colors are evident especially in the depiction of the clothing worn by the children.  The illustration for Sled (p. 16-17) fills two pages and shows children in a variety of wild and playful colors as they enjoy the various stages of sledding.

The illustration that accompanies the poem, Sled, fills the cover and travels onto the back of the book. The end papers for this book are a soothing, solid sage green color.  Inside, this poetry collection is presented on stark, white paper.  Each page contains either a poem printed in an easy to read black font, a single picture framed in a simple deep, navy blue color, or a poem and illustration paired together. 

All the pictures in this collection are contained within these blue frames except for the illustrations paired with the Icicles and Cabin Fever poems.  In the Icicles (p. 25) illustration, the top line of the blue frame has a jagged appearance to portray the uneven snow atop the cabin’s roof and to reinforce the sawtooth appearance of the icicles hanging along the eaves of the front port.  Pareidolia enables the reader to transform the image of the house into the shape of a dragon with angry eyes accompanied by fangs and sharp teeth: “Icicles are dragon’s teeth. They don’t grow up. They drip beneath” (p. 25).

The straight top line of the blue frame for the illustration with the Cabin Fever (p. 31) poem is distorted by a plume of smoke escaping as it rises from the cabin’s chimney.   The side window of the cabin contains the image of an oversized person’s downcast face and fills up the entire window frame.  This image portrays the human emotion and experience of having cabin fever.  The reader is meant to share in this person’s wish that they could escape the confines of their cabin.  Like the smoke rising from the chimney, the long to push past the navy frame, and escape into freedom as they float off into open space and the cold winter air.

From the cover illustration depicting a sledding scene that travels onto the back of the book, the stylistic artwork in the accompanying illustrations enhance the emotions conveyed in the poems.  The childlike illustrations and shape poems add a touch of whimsy to contrast with the cold and monotony of the stark, wintertime landscape.  With a variety of rhyming patterns, Winter Eyes is an enjoyable compilation of poems about winter.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

From School Library Journal: “Quiet and reflective as the whispers of falling snowflakes and as jubilant as the whizzing of sleds, this book will be as welcome as a warm cup of cocoa after a long day of making snowmen and turning figure eights.”

From Booklist: “Small, quiet poems and pictures capture how winter feels to a small child, especially the physicalness of it, from "sloppy slush" to "grumpy" sun, and the wind "that hustles rusty leaves along." The short rhyming lines are clear and will be easy to read aloud, and the softly toned watercolor-and-colored-pencil pictures show snowy winter scenes, some realistic, some playful.”

From Kirkus Reviews: “Winter-lovers and winter-haters alike will find poems that strike chords, in a collection that is perfect for reading alone by the fire, or as part of snug storytimes.”

CONNECTIONS

Collect other Douglas Florian books to read such as:

• Autumnblings.  ISBN 9780060092788
• Dinothesaurus. ISBN 9781416979784
• in the swim. ISBN 9780152013073
• Mammalabilia. ISBN 9780152021672

Collect other books about winter to read such as:

• Chaconas, Dori. On a Wintry Morning. ISBN 9780670892457
• Keats, Ezra Jack. Snowy Day. ISBN 9780140501827
• Yolen, Jane. Owl Moon. ISBN 9780399214578

Collect other poetry books to read such as:

• Prelutsky, Jack. The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury. ISBN  9780679893141
• Schmidt, Gary D. Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost. ISBN 9781402754753
• Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings. ISBN 9780060256678