The book, which Sidman describes as a 'thread that starts in spring and celebrates the colors through the seasons', is divided into four sections with the headings Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. In the previously mentioned interview, Sidman stated that what she finally settled on in terms of structure was 'a way of personifying the colors, of making them come alive and describing them as if they were alive'. It took several years to develop a structure for the text that worked well with the content and showed how she felt about color and nature while still being different from other children's books. In an interview after winning the Minnesota Book Award, she stated that she had 'always wanted to write a book about color', but wanted it to be different from the many books that already explored the topic. The idea for Red Sings from Treetops came to Sidman on her daily walks through the woods where she would see color everywhere throughout all seasons.

Other awards and honors Red Sings from Treetops has earned include the Minnesota Book Award, Cybils Poetry Award, the Bulletin Blue Ribbon and Booklist Editor's Choice. The book was an Honor book for the Caldecott Medal and won the Claudia Lewis Poetry Award in 2010. The book, published in 2009, follows the changes of the seasons throughout the year by looking at colors. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors is a children's picture book written by American children's author Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, and published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. Cover of Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in ColorsĢ009 Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Red Sings from Treetops by Joyce Sidman