Welcome SPRING, Seasons, and POETRY MONTH

 A collection of poems by a single author is a rare accomplishment in the current publishing world. Those with a golden track record (Nikki Grimes, Nikki Giovanni, Shel Silverstein, etc.) are worthy of such an investment and their works become well-worn classics. Otherwise, poetry for children tends toward anthologies by multiple authors, present and past. In the case of POEMS FOR EVERY SEASON, the work was originally published in the Netherlands and then brought to the US market with the addition of a skilled translator. 

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2024/2026

POEMS FOR EVERY SEASON; A YEAR OF HAIKU, SONNETS, and MORE 
offers text by Bette Westera and illustrations by Henriette Boerendans, with translations by David Colmer. This creative team has produced a seamless whole. The collection provides a wealth of poems, each lovely as a stand-alone. But there are many other benefits to the arrangement of poems in this subtle and sensory picture book, including that each poem is labeled with its poetic form. Back matter develops further understanding of the patterns and encourages attempts by readers. As the title suggests, the collection features the four seasons, launching with SPRING. A gentle haiku introduces each season, followed by  poems revealing scenes and emotions of that particular season. 

Illustrations feature the talented woodcut art and textured coloration that suit each poem and each season. The full conceptual organization is bracketed with endpapers of migrating geese, markers of annual changes across many regions and climates. The animals featured, and some of the poetic forms, will be familiar across many ages. Structures like the  SONNET, often considered challenging and/or off-putting, become pleasing and evocative when describing lambs in spring. Any time a translator is trusted with lyrical text, the bar is especially high: to sustain the original meaning while adjusting for differences in syllable counts, rhythm, rhyme, etc. The English versions of the poems read naturally and appealingly. 

This picture book will reach the hearts and minds of young people and offer a rich read-aloud by adults. The poems and structures provide mentor text for older aspiring writers, and inspiration for anyone aiming to create works that offer lyrical insights across many layers of appeal. It is a timely offering as we savor SPRING, and APRIL is NATIONAL POETRY MONTH. (<<< Click to find an easy link for a free POETRY MONTH poster!)

Short and Sweet: A Haiku Classic for April

 

Lee & Low Books, 1998

Pause with me for this brief review of, and reflection on,  COOL MELONS- TURN TO FROGS: THE Life and Poems of ISSA, with story and haiku translations by Matthew Gollub, illustrations by Kazuko G. Stone. Why? Because April is National Poetry Month. Because haiku is an accessible poetic form that offers peace and grace and calm. Because it is spring. Because the life of poet ISSA is fascinating. 

Just because.

The life of iconic 19th century Japanese Haiku poet ISSA is portrayed in a combination of narrative text and actual haiko poems he wrote throughout his life. The simple storytelling grace of the narratives fully complements and showcases the featured poems, with vertical illustration and the poem itself written in Japanese characters, top to bottom, on facing pages. In total, the book provides an immersive cultural experience for young readers, providing connection to Issa as a child and then later in his life. 

Originally released in 1998, this treatment of Issa's biography and translations of his poems is timeless and tender, appealing to readers and audiences of any age.

As promised in the title of this post, it is short and sweet. But just in case you are longing for a bit more on the subject, here are some prior posts to explore:

Haiku: HERE, HERE, and HERE.

POETRY: HERE, HERE, and HERE.

These are only a few of many past posts featuring poetry, and they stretch beyond a decade. But as with this featured title, now more than a quarter century in print, the very best in poetry is timeless. Please accept my invitation to PAUSE in your own busy lives and see if you agree!

April 30: Last Call for Poetry Month... NOT!

 In the recent posts I've focused on picture books that engage with EARTH DAY and environmental topics. Missed them? Check out books that involve restoration/repurposing, HERE, our remarkable planet's precious OCEAN, and the damage that we do to it, HERE,  the power of shared generational experiences to develop environmental values, HERE, animal adaptation in response to habitat changes, HERE, the never-ending need for vigilant attention when progress is made, HERE, and some very specific examples of turning values into action, HERE. 

Whew! There are plenty more books I could have touted, but April is just a wildly busy month when it comes to focusing on important themes and topics.

But... and if you've read my posts in the past this will not be news... THEME MONTHS are a double edged sword! Environmental concern and action is useless unless it becomes a 24/7/365 practice. So, too, it's foolish to think that designating a single week in April to extend thanks to our librarians, library workers and public library services is adequate. As citizens of our communities and members of a literate society, it falls to each of us to speak up for public funding fr those services, join and engage with any library "friends" organizations in our communities, and go out of our way to thank those workers at every opportunity.

As if that's not enough, APRIL is designated as NATIONAL POETRY Month. So, since today is  April 30, I'll feature some poetry books and thoughts here and then ignore poetry for another year. 

As the title for this post indicates: NOT!

Just a year ago, I had a post about the importance of poetry in our lives, HERE. 

I included this poster:

If you don't have time to click back to read the whole post, here are a few lines that I shared then, with deep respect for the young readers who helped develop the definition:

Poetry is literature with special feelings, word choices, forms, and patterns.

I urge you to read their insights. Here are only a few to explore their answers to the question, WHAT IS POETRY?:

Poetry:

·      Needs to use words

·      Does not have to be written on paper

·      Should go through the writing process to polish it to a shine

·      Does not have to be in a book

·      May have things in it to figure out

·      Can rhyme, but doesn’t have to rhyme

·      Can be long or short

·      Can describe things or people

·      Can be about nature

·      Can be about anything

and so much more...

Let's turn that calendar page tomorrow while making it a priority

 to read and recite and memorize and recommend and celebrate 

POETRY- 

EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR!

Posthumous Poetry: H Is For Haiku

Ready for a tongue-twister loaded with truth?

A tiny, purpose-powered little publisher has packed a lot of punch 

since it was launched by a pair of poets in 2015. 

Any idea who that might be? 

It's PENNY CANDY BOOKS, founded by Alexis Orgera and Chad Reynolds. Their stated mission is "to publish children's literature that reflects the diverse realities of the world we live in, both at home and abroad. This means seeking out books by and about people and subjects that speak to a broad range of human experience." 

PENNY CANDY BOOKS, 2018

The most recent release in their blooming catalogue is H IS FOR HAIKU, by Sydell Rosenberg and illustrated by Sawsan Chalabi. Rosenberg, a charter member of the Haiku Society of America in 1968, spent her professional life as a classroom teacher in New York City, frequently writing for and with her students. She was prolific and wrote in many forms, but her poetic form-of-choice was HAIKU.

The comments above are written in past tense because Syd, as the author was known to friends and family alike, died in 1996 nearing the age of sixty-seven. By that time she had written and published countless poems, many in haiku form. She had also written about the nature of haiku, sharing her passion and talent while inspiring others (young and old) to write their own small moments as haiku. 

Publication of this collection was championed by her daughter, Amy Losak, whose note precedes the collection  with a "Dear Reader" address. In it she highlights the observant and intuitive nature required to recognize potential poems in everyday objects and events. The next page presents thoughts about Haiku from Syd's own writings, including this:

"Haiku is that fledgling moment, when the wingstrokes become sure-- 

when the bird has staying power in the air."

These individual poems were selected and lightly edited by Losak from among her mother's lifetime of creativity. Rosenberg always dreamed of producing an alphabet-themed collection of haiku for young readers and Losak strove to make that vision a reality. The premise of arranging the poems by the alphabetical order of the first words provides a structure. On that scaffold, though, multiple patterns and relationships provide additional  conversations between and among the poems. There is an urban sensibility to some of them, as in these examples:

"Queuing for ice cream-

sweat-sprinkled office workers

on Queens Boulevard"

and

"Room of first-graders

practicing the recorder

through a thunderstorm"  

Several others reflect the author's intense and somewhat wry observations of nature's creatures and the amazing planet we share with them, often oblivious to their beauty and grace.  This pair share a double-page spread:

"Neon wings of moth

exploding into headlights

on a country road"

and 

"On a ruby sun

two white swans cross their black beaks

as they meet, gliding"

Losak reveals even more of the back story about the book and about her mother, Syd, in a recent guest post on the POETRY FOR CHILDREN blog, HERE. 

Illustrator Sawsan Chalabi enhances the carefully curated poems and their engaging interactions by incorporating mutliple strategies to magnify meaning and to encourage reflection. The haiku FIRST LIBRARY CARD is posted on the spines of books. Each word of a poem about rain splatters the page inside a raindrop. 

Harking back to the premise on which I launched this blog many years ago, I believe picture books have important things to offer readers of any age. This format of books is ideal for learners at any stage because they are COMPACT, COMPLETE, and COMPELLING. This picture book exemplifies those qualities. Among the many forms of poetry, for any age, HAIKU can be said to offer readers the same benefits as picture books. Syd Rosenberg, somewhere in time and space, must be very proud of her daughter, of this book, and of the ways it will carry on her advocacy for reading and for writing HAIKU. 

April is National Poetry Month. H IS FOR HAIKU releases on April tenth but is available for pre-order at the publisher, PENNY CANDY BOOKS, HERE. That means you could receive your copy in time to share and enjoy it on INTERNATIONAL HAIKU POETRY DAY, April 17. 
Stay tuned for more April poetry posts here, including some on haiku collections and picture book stories told in haiku forms. Here's a prior post with other titles to keep you reading until your copy of H IS FOR HAIKU arrives.