Cicada Sing Song by Pat Simmons illustrated by Katrin Dreiling

I really want extra notes at the back of this book. I do like cicadas but I don't know much about them. They nearly drove my friend crazy this summer when she moved into a small granny flat beside a huge tree where hundreds of them were living - who knew they wee and this can drop onto you and the washing! In this book they sing but in reality they sound like this. 

Here are some types of cicadas here in Australia

This book mentions The Yellow Drummer; Black Prince (Psaltoda plaga); Green Grocer (Cyclochila australasiae); Orange Drummer (Thopha colorata); Brown Bunyip (Tamasa tristigma); Floury Baker (Abricta curvicosta); Razor Grinder (Henicopsaltria eydouxii) and Blue Moon (an alternate name for the greengrocer). I had to check that these were all real names which is another reason why back notes would be useful and I have added the scientific names.

Some facts about cicadas:

• There are approximately 280 named species of cicada in Australia,
• The majority of Australian cicadas belong to the Cicadidae family, with the greengrocer and black prince (Psaltoda plaga) among the most well-known
• Australia probably has more species of cicadas than any other continent
• Cicadas spend most of their life underground as a nymph, with the timeframe depending on the species.
• Much of their life, under and above ground, is spent eating the sap of plants and trees (often eucalypts)
• When cicadas transition from nymph to adult their skin splits and they emerge over about two hours.
• Only males produce the cicadas' distinctive sounds
• The song is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans
• Different species have different songs to attract only their own kind.
• Many species of cicada sing during the heat of the day. The loud noise repels birds
• Some cicada species only sing at dusk. They gain some protection from predatory birds by confining their activity to dusk

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher. 

I would pair this book with:

I am very keen to see Cicada Symphony - it won heaps of awards in the US:

• 2024 ALA Notable Children's Book
• 2024 Texas 2x2 Reading List
• 2023 Chicago Public Library Best Informational Books for Younger Readers
• 2023 Blueberry Honor Award
• 2024 Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year

Cicada Sing Song is a rather strange book but the illustrations are appealing. This book could be a jumping off point for further research about this curious insect or your school music teacher could use the text as a stimulus for instrumental compositions or improvisations. Here is a sound file of actual cicadas - they don't sound especially musical as implied by this story. In Australia we do associate the sound of cicadas with the arrival of summer. 

The copy I borrowed from a school library was purchased from a bookshop I had not heard of - The Turning Page in Springwood. I recognised the name of the illustrator Katrin Dreiling and then I checked my blog and found she illustrated A Perfect Pig. I was thrilled to read her favourite illustrator is Beatrice Alemagna and for writing its Astrid Lindgren and Janosch!

Here is a 2019 interview with Katrin by Kids' Book Review. And here are her books:

Pat Simmons is a writer of poetry, short stories, flash fiction and picture books for children. She lives in Scarborough on the NSW South Coast with her menagerie of dogs, cats and assorted mini beasts.

Her poetry and short stories have been published in anthologies and children’s literary magazines including NSW School Magazine, Alphabet Soup and Looking Glass Magazine. She has won writer competitions in Australia and the UK. Her first picture book, Ziggy’s Zoo, was published by Little Pink Dog Books in 2018.