Haiku Magic.... A POND, A POET, AND THREE PESTS

 In the prior post I pointed out that April is POETRY MONTH, featuring a book that included HAIKU. I've reviewed and praised Haiku collections for young readers in past posts, HERE, HERE, and  HERE.The form originates in Japan, which requires translation for those of us who don't speak Japanese. (That would be many of us, no doubt). The word meanings and syllable counts may change with translation, but the essence of HAIKU captures a moment in time, an emotion or observation of nature, a sense of our place in relation to the natural world. The three-line syllable count matters, but not more so than the essence of the thought. There are other renowned haiku poets from around the world, including from the USA. BASHO was perhaps the best known haiku poet, a journeying man who chose a life of humble means and deep reflection. 

GROUNDWOOD BOOKS, 2025   

A POND, A POET, AND THREE PESTS is written by Caroline Anderson and illustrated by Lauren Tamaki. This nearly mystical, dreamlike tale suggests an evening respite for BASHO, resting at a small pond. The three pests are pond residents who each recognize BASHO and hope to gain his attentions, to perhaps achieve fame by becoming the subject of one of his poems.

First, the golden carp flashes his sparkling scales, but goes unnoticed. Then the water lily wafts its most appealing fragrance, but also is unnoticed. Mosquito, though, is well aware of the effects of a droning buzz near the ear. Even that does not get a reaction from BASHO.

When a frog leaps into the pond, BASHO wakens, composing one of his most highly regarded poems... about the frog. No attempts at fame and attention succeeded, but simply following its nature earned frog fame in a globally-recited poem. How much we could all learn from that frog. And from those fame-seeking "pests" whose gifts and traits were overlooked by trying too hard for attention rather than for seeking joy in being their true selves. 

The narrative text to share this proverb-like tale is as minimal and resonate as a poem, which suits the story perfectly. The illustrations are evocative of Japanese ink scrolls combined with the lush and luminous colors of silks. Images seem to glow or ripple as your eyes shift from page to page while lines suggest ink-brushed lines and calligraphy. BASHU's Buddha-like image reveals his pilgrim/traveler persona and allows him to blend into the nature he deeply respects and purposefully seeks.  

BASHU and ISSA are two of the most well-known Haiku poets, and their collections have been the subjects of doctoral studies and scholarly tomes. They are also featured in books for young readers, in which the careful selection of poems combine with enhancing illustrations to make writing haiku an appealing project for many young folks and adults alike. COOL MELONS TURN TO FROGS is one such picture book that features poems by ISSA. I hope you'll seek out this recent BASHO book and the much earlier ISSA book. Both will take you into a world that may offer you respite from screens and fame-seekers, while deepening your own awareness of the natural world at our fingertips. 

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!

Grandpas: Priceless Histories That Shape Lives

I'll begin with a brief grandpa story of my own, one that I just recently learned. My family roots on Mom's side are firmly anchored in Appalachia, with the rich voices of that region and deep storytelling traditions providing fibers that weave throughout my writing. A conversation with my older sister revealed a story about our Grandpa that I had never heard or had somehow forgotten. 

Grandpa turned eighty shortly before his death, but he was still living alone in a little four-room house he had built  at age seventy-five (with the help of friends and a grandson) on the side of a steep hill. It was exactly what he needed to remain independent. It lacked indoor plumbing, but the front porch faced a well-traveled road for waving at folks. The area produced frequent company and conversation, occupying his porch rockers in all kinds of weather. He faithfully worshipped at the church in the "holler". There the congregation had a practice that members would celebrate their birthdays by donating their "age number" on the nearest Sunday. In Grandpa's case, he produced his extra donation of eighty cents. That was a matter of pride, not worry, since most there lived at a similar edge of solvency and sustenance with a full commitment to their beliefs and community. 

TUNDRA Books, Canada, 2021

I learned about Grandpa's story while I was planning this post featuring two important new picture books starring grandfathers and grandsons. The first is also rural: ON THE TRAPLINE, a memoir-inspired story written by David A. Robertson and illustrated by the award-winning and immensely talented artist, Julie Flett. 

Robertson incorporates vocabulary from his Cree heritage, specifically the Swampy Cree language, easily understood in context and purposefully used to strengthen the depth and bond of the remembered trip he took with his grandpa to the "trapline". As he states in the author note, that journey was a homecoming for him as Cree man and for his grandpa it was a journey home. 

Flett's characteristic art elements of subdued earthy tones, slightly abstracted yet expressive characters, and  immersive scenes invite readers to accompany this quietly loving pair through their cultural homeland practices, With storytelling language that is direct and has a gentle momentum throughout, with characters often facing away from readers, we are led alongside this pair guiding the way into the past, present, and future of the Swamp Cree people. We readers are provided the privilege of learning with the boy. This shared experience deserves a wide and openhearted audience, one that can readily recognize ourselves in the individuals, their relationship, and the value of generational connections- at both ends of those generations. 

Lee & Low Books, 2021

KYOSHI'S WALK is written by Mark Karlins and illustrated by Nicole Wong.This grandfather (poet Eto) and grandson (Kiyoshi) are introduced in the kitchen of their urban home as Eto's delicate brush and ink strokes flick a lovely poem onto rice paper:

"The dripping faucet

Takes me back to my old home.

Raindrops on frog pond."

Kyoshi's simple question launches this daylong stroll of discovery throughout their urban area, with Eto inspired to generate poems from sounds, sights, activity, and feelings along the way. Kiyoshi knows that there is purpose to their shared journey, and does young Richard in the picture book above. 

Questions come naturally but do not pepper or pester the text in either case, and the grandfathers are not intent on direct instruction or dissertation. Instead, a nod of recognition or acceptance, a tilt of body posture indicate moments in which their bonds are growing with each boy's increased awareness of truths, heart, and history from the grandfathers depths. In Kiyoshi's case, his expansive understanding of poetry on the final pages reveal that poems come from the world around us and from the feelings in our hearts. Eto elevates that insight with this:

"Yes, and they come from the way the two come together."  

Not unlike the way the cross-generational lives coming together, in both picture books, elevates their relationships into a kind of poetry.

The author addresses the HAIKU form with simplicity and encouragement in a back note.

I hope that these two titles (and my opening note) will motivate you to share stories among your family and friends, not assuming that what you know/remember about those now gone are the only stories available to you. If you are privileged to have elders in your lives (or if you find that YOU are now the elder among your connections), make time and space and a structured welcome to infuse your relationships with quiet opportunities, like these, to merge meaning across generations.

And if these have you in the mood for more grandparent stories, I've reviewed others HERE,HERE, HERE, and HERE. 

RAIN: As Essential As Poetry

Eerdman Books for Young Readers, October, 2019

I'm excited to celebrate the launch of a brand new picture book by Swedish author, illustrator, and poet Anders Holmer: RAIN.  It ticked all the right boxes for me before I even opened the cover: nature, poetry (strongly accessible haiku, in fact), breathtaking art, and a diverse world perspective. 
I don't often post an extra-large version of covers, but in this case it feels necessary. Even at this size, you may struggle to view the minuscule falling particles in the image. These and other suggestions of rain in the various scenes throughout the book are "raining down" on the characters and situations. These characters are as diverse as the locales, and each individual feels to me to be totally absorbed in a distinct story. 
On this cover image, for example, those gray-green slashes poking through the snow are early evidence of lichen underlying an arctic/tundra region. The snow cover, clothing, and transportation methods suggest that the moisture from above may be of the slushy-sleety variety, the type that stings the skin and renders old snow surfaces as slick as ice, literally. 
And yet, after surviving yet another long, dark, frozen season, such a rain swells the heart:

"Calf licking the first

fresh green wedges of lichen.

And soon, butterflies!"

Like this poem, each in this book is finely crafted, adhering to the rigid expectations of Haiku, a traditional Japanese form:

Three unrhymed lines (5-7-5 syllables)

Total of 17 syllables

Strong imagery

Often nature scenes

Capturing a specific moment or emotion in time

In this book, creator Holmer has mastered all of the above while developing a series of global scenes that underscore the universal nature of the moments and emotions portrayed. Young readers and writers will enjoy and be inspired to write their own haiku- a seemingly simple challenge. If that happens, I'd urge you to emphasize content over syllable count. (There are many poetry scholars who accept adaptations to the pattern, although the three line, seventeen syllable total are useful guides.) 

I've shared other haiku collections HERE, and HERE. Themed and cumulative haiku that form a sequential narrative story are easiest to explore for beginners (Dog-Ku and Won-Ton). Holmer declares RAIN as the unifying theme for this series. Rain is unbiquitous in every climate, including desert zones. It offers a common thread among all human experience. The emotional journeys of these scenes also have a commonality to them, with each double spread revealing relationships, struggles, and suggesting open-ended resolutions. Independent writers could well imagine a story from each of the twelve spreads, guided by the haiku text, and then harvest details from images on the page while imagining a before and after related to the scene. 

At this point I'll pat myself on the back because I'm going to resist including any other examples of Holmer's poems, even though I'm eager to share them all. I wouldn't dare include more, though, because doing so without the book in hand would fail to deliver the full impact their power. The conceptual design and flow of emotional content from scene to scene is enhanced by the book's design. The tall trim size allows for double spreads to open as in a landscape display of artwork (which each is). Most use color tones that are subdued but surprisingly intense, whether in the depths of a rainforest river or a petal-strewn Japanese garden. 

The scenes (puffins near a lighthouse, running horses on a plain, a forest fire with fleeing animals, and so many more) unfold with quiet authority, providing enough realism to spark background knowledge of climate zones (and perhaps some geography research), yet they provide a slightly abstracted quality that is inherent in the poetry form, allowing space for each reader to enter and inhabit the pages and the poems. 

Rain is a human experience, as are its consequences (floods, droughts, crops, famine, dismay, delight). It is a resource and a necessity. After reading and re-reading this haiku collection, many times over, and after sitting with the lives revealed in scene-after-scene, I'm convinced the same can be said about the new picture book, RAIN. For your own reading and for young readers of any age, make it a point to get and share this book. Return to it often. It is both a resource and a necessity. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

Happy InternationalHaiku Day!

April 17 is the annual INTERNATIONAL HAIKU DAY. 

Much like the concise, precise, and incisive form of HAIKU, I'll try to keep this post brief and send you on your way to celebrate and explore some amazing haiku collections in picture books. 

If you missed it, you might start with a post here on April 1: H IS FOR HAIKU.  Or spend some reflective moments with the HAIKU books I recommended last year, HERE.

My final suggested link is from a blog you may want to follow, WHAT WE DO ALL DAY. Check out the HAIKU suggested HERE.

As promised, this is a compact little post, but I hope it has the impact to send you in search of these and other HAIKU picture books.

Be inspired. Be brave. 

Be bold.Try to write HAIKU. 

Voice your inner life!

More Alike Than Different: Poems of Friendship

April is Poetry Month. I celebrated the launch of the 2018 Poetry Season with a post about H IS FOR HAIKU, HERE, which was a collaboration of sorts between mother (author) and daughter (advocate). 

It's fitting to follow that with a co-authored, co-illustrated collection of poems that I first read while evaluating books for the CYBILS awards for poetry. CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? POEMS OF RACE, MISTAKES, AND FRIENDSHIP was a hot contender, in my opinion. Authors Irene Latham and Charles Waters met "virtually" through their mutual love of poetry. Editor Carol Hinz of Carolrhoda Books proposed their collaboration on this project and it was an inspired choice. Illustrators Sean Qualls and Selina Alko completed this multi-racial, honest, and open exploration of the childhood perceptions, misconceptions and relationships.

I expected to enjoy this, but it far exceeded those expectations. The simplicity and directness from each of the two voices allowed me to slide right into their respective identities, into their school and home relationships, into the gradual shifts of their interactions from anxious concern to naturally developing mutual respect and friendship. 
The dialogic poems, simple but helpful illustrations, and discreet details from the two lives and points of view offer readers of any age an open door to reflect on privilege and unrecognized bias. 
The free verse poems and topics developed provide effective mentor text and present subtle character development from which young writers can learn to "show, don't tell" in their own writing.

Read the Kirkus starred review, HERE, to see why this is a book for today, for Poetry Month, for EVERY month, and for years to come.

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.

Pets and Poetry: A Perfect Partnership in Picture Books!

April, already several weeks in the rearview-mirror as I write this, is POETRY MONTH, and yet poetry picture books are priceless all year long. If you're new to this blog, here's a link to my deeply held belief that "THEME MONTHS" are a double-edged sword, whether in classrooms, libraries, or home. May happens to be National Pet Month, though, and I simply can't ignore it. Cartoonist Patrick McDonnell (MUTTS) uses his characters to advocation for animal rescues/adoptions, and you can see that he walks the walk, here.

Scholastic, 1997

Since I launched a personal campaign to shine my spotlight, limited as it may be, on poetry picture books throughout the year, this is a perfect opportunity to rave about a favorite of mine, WEIRD PET POEMS, compiled by Dilys Evans and illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers.

This is a testament to the timelessness of picture books, and, most especially, of poetry. Dilys Evans is a noted artist and poet, and she contributed her editorial skills to draw poetry from as long ago as 1930 through to contemporary publications. She contributed the launching poem and combined her selections in a story-in-poems that reveals energy, enthusiasm, curiosity, humor, and imagination.

HOORAY! HOORAY!

Hooray! Hooray!

I'm eight today and now I have my own pet!

It can't be too hairy. It can't be too tall.

It can't be too scary. It can't be too small.

Mom doesn't like snakes. She doesn't like frogs.

Or anything else that lives near a bog.

So it cannot be slimy and must not drool.

What does mom make me for, an absolute fool?

My pet will be perfect in every way.

It will love me to pieces, and want me to play.

I'm not sure what it is yet, Mom says that's just fine.

But as soon as I see it, I'll know that it's mine.

Okay, let's get started. I know where to look.

So turn the next page... we'll look in this book!

Thus begins a search for the perfect pet, transported by poets including Lee Bennet Hopkins, Marilyn Singer, Karla Kuskin, and Shiki, among many other notables. The birthday boy searches, always accompanied by his little sister (sometimes only visible via her topknot). The candidates range from bulldogs to turtles, porcupines to pterodactyls, dozes to yaks, and beyond. The concluding haiku is by none other than ISSA:

UNDER THE WILLOW

Under the willow

With a leaf stuck in his mouth

The puppy sleeps.

A poem by the most noted poet of all time, ANONYMOUS, opens and closes the book:

THE ANIMAL SONG

Alligator, hedgehog, anteater bear,

Rattlesnake, buffalo, anaconda, hare.

Bullfrog, woodchuck, wolverine, goose,

Whippoorwill, chipmunk, jackal, moose.

Mud turtle, whale, glowworm, bat,

Salamander, snail and Maltese cat.

Polecat, dog, wild otter, rat,

Pelican, hog, dodo, and bat.

House rat, toe rat, white deer, doe,

Chickadee, peacock, bobolink, crow.

Now for a word about the illustrations by Jacqueline Rogers. From the alphabetic-animals used to spell out the title to the comically inadequate leash  the boy has tethered to an enormous and  curmudgeonly dog(?) on the back cover, every intricate detail matters. The expressions on human and other animals, the elaborate and moody backgrounds, and the complex relationships depicted in each double-page spread all demand exploration and examination. They hold up well in repeated readings, offering new discoveries each time through the book. 

There is ample justification for the current emphasis on diverse voices and images in all forms of children's literature, spearheaded by WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS. But a book like this, published twenty years ago, is proof that illustrators like Rogers offered outstanding examples of mainstream books that appeal to and reflect ALL readers. In fact, since this title seems to be out of print, now is perfect time to reintroduce it to a whole new generation of young people. It's available in libraries, so don't wait for that to happen before checking it out for yourself. And, if you don't already have a pet, consider adopting one from a rescue center. Who knows, it might even inspire you to write a poem or two for yourself.

If you happen to enjoy poetry, pets, and particularly haiku, take a look at a previous post that  featured exactly those kinds of books, here.

Poetry Month Ends... But Poetry Lingers On.

Just in case you've missed the news, APRIL is NATIONAL POETRY MONTH, for all ages. So, now that April 30 has arrived, this will conclude my posts about poetry picture books. 

NO!

There's no cause for alarm as I survey the tall stack of poetry collections, patiently awaiting their turns in the spotlight. If you're new to this blog, you can read my longstanding objection to theme months here, going way back to the early weeks of this blog in 2012. In fact, the only issue I have with a stack of poetry books not yet shared is a slight worry that I could trip  over them and break something, possibly ME! There's always time in the year(s) ahead to share them here, but I'll improve the safety factor by powering through some favorite HAIKU collections before shifting gears for a few weeks to other genre. NO worries, though. Poetry will return before long.

Greenwillow Books, 2004

So, in rapid-fire succession, here are some of my favorite haiku picture books, with a sample poem from each. 

IF NOT FOR THE CAT features poetry by  Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Ted Rand. Most are familiar with Prelutsky's tightly rhymed/metered poems, many bordering on rapid-fire raps, but these haiku offer reflections through the point of view of familiar creatures, enhanced by remarkably powerful illustrations. 

CROW: 

Raucously we caw.

Your straw men do not fool us.

We burgle your corn.

Henry Holt and Company, 2011

Next up is WON-TON: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku, written by Lee Wardlaw and illustrated by Eugene Yeltsin. In this case, this big-eyed, sharp-clawed cat shares the experience of being a shelter cat through selection, adjustment, and acceptance in a rescue home.

Here's the first of three poems as the cat arrives at the shelter. 

Nice place they got here.

Bed. Bowl. Blanket. Just like home!

Or so I've been told.

And one from the collection labeled HOME:

Your tummy, soft as 

warm dough. I knead and knead, then

bake it with a nap.

Simon and Schuster BYR, 2007

A similar premise reflects the arrival of a stray dog at a home whose family has no intention of adding a dog. DOGKU is written  by Andrew Clements with heart-tugging illustrations by Tim Bowers. This adds a bonus flap haiku:

A tale in haiku

of one adorable dog.

Let's find him a home.

Even the author's and illustrator's dedications are in haiku. 

Adjusting to a new home is never easy:

Chew on dirty socks.

Roll around in week-old trash.

Ahhh...that's much better.

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010

Last (for now), but certainly not least, Is GUYKU: A Year of Haiku for Boys, written by Bob Raczka and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. Organized by seasons, beginning in SPRING (isn't that when every year really begins?), these are action-packed insights into the power of poetry to capture pure joy. 

I free grasshopper

from his tight, ten-fingered cage--

he tickles too much!

And later in the year...

Icicles dangle,

begging to be broken off

for a short sword fight.

So, I invite you to join me in my resistance to the unconscious restrictions of theme months. Hustle on out (or click on your library hold access online) and check out these terrific books. I'm excited to add that these, and their authors, will lead you to additional outstanding titles. 

Enjoy!