Sidman Poetry: What the Heart Knows

What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, and Blessings
by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Sidman, Joyce, and Pamela Zagarenski. What the Heart Knows Chants, Charms & Blessings. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2013. 9780544106161

Plot Summary

Twenty-nine compelling poems come together to bolster courage and guard against evil, the cause something to happen, to remember, regret, or grieve, and to celebrate, thank, or express love. Chants, charms, spells, invocations, laments, remembrances, praise songs, and blessings explore the complicated parts of growing up. How do you repair a friendship, find lost things, take hold of your time, get used to a new body, and remember your own past as you move into a scary new future? All of these questions and more can be answered within the pages of this poetry book.

Analysis

Newbery Honor poet Joyce Sidman strikes gold once again in this beautifully explorative poetry book about the struggles of growing up. Finding inspiration from ancient forms of spoken word, she crafted seven poems each for chants and charms, spells and invocations, laments and remembrances, and eight poems for praise songs and blessings. To start each section of poems, she includes definitions of each main theme. Each poem takes a variety of shapes and sizes, including triolet, ubi sunt, conrete. Some poems use rhyme, some use rhythm, but each of them carries a strong emotional impact. The poems are inspirational, heartwarming, melancholy, bittersweet, and hopeful. In the poem Song in a Strange Land, she writes "Oh yes, / says my heart. / Whatever the day brings, / let it bring. / Whatever the music, / let me sing." In this poem about being in a strange land, Sidman chose to end of a hopeful note, giving readers the sense that everything will turn out well, if they just bravely stand up to whatever they may face. Readers will feel a wide range of emotions when reading the book from beginning to end. If this book is one that lives on a reader's shelf, they will have the pleasure of being able to read one poem at a time when they need to hear and understand its meaning.

Pamela Zagarenski's illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Sidman's poetry. She used mixed media paintings on wood and computer illustrations. Each poem has one page of illustrations; some are simple but some are complex and detailed. The simple illustrations leave a lot of white space on the page with small images adding flecks of color. The complex illustrations cover the entire page and include a wide variety of colors. The illustrations aid in the whimsical feeling of this poetry book and emphasize the emotions that are present in each poem.

Excerpt

    Starting Now

    Open your eyes.

    Feel your strength.

    Bless the past.

    Greet the future.

    Join hands.

    Right here.

    Our moment:

    starting now.

Connections

After exploring these poems, either all or just a few, have each person chose a tarot card from the selection that is provided. Using the card for inspiration, have them write a poem based on the card; focus on the feelings, emotions, or message that the card might convey. Provide a piece of cardstock and scraps of paper and after each poem is written, have each person write the poem on the cardstock and create illustrations using the scraps of paper.

Reviews

Robin Smith from Horn Book Magazine wrote, "Each poem speaks directly from Sidman's heart to the reader's, addressing subjects of deep importance: forgiveness in order to repait a friendship, bravery, death, illness, moving to a new place, and even "Blessing on the Smell of Dog." . . . Zagarenski's illustrations beautifully extend the poems with her dreamy style and deft use of white space, symbolism, and images from Sidman's text."

SMITH, ROBIN L. 2014. “What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, & Blessings.” Horn Book Magazine 90 (1): 106. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=93250747&site=ehost-live.

One reviewer from Publishers Weekly wrote, "Sidman gathers her verse into four sections—Chants & Charms, Spells & Incantations, Laments & Remembrances, and Praise Songs & Blessings— while Zagarenski contributes brightly painted and emotionally evocative mixed media artwork filled with the crowned figures, teapots, wheels, and lions that frequent her work . . . Poems of bravery, love, heartbreak, justice, and peace unite to offer readers of all ages solace, inspiration, and strength."

“What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, and Blessings.” 2013. Publishers Weekly, November, 133. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=92555234&site=ehost-live.