Poetry Friday: Haiku Books

Thank you Paul for accepting this late entry.
I am so happy to be here this Friday and share three haiku books of note. These are three nominations of the almost forty for the CYBILS poetry award.
HI, KOO! A YEAR of SEASONS Written and illustrated by Jon Muth. Published by Scholastic. What can I say about Jon Muth that hasn’t been said? He takes readers through the year with haiku that doesn’t follow the standard 5-7-5 syllable, three line form. And without overplaying the alphabet theme, this book goes through the alphabet. “Koo” is our panda guide throughout the book. I really liked the author’s note at the book’s beginning.
Book source: from the public library.

NINJA MOUSE written and illustrated by J.C.Thomas. Published by
SuperUltraGo! Press. This is a book that I feel middle graders will return too again and again. There’s something mysterious about the presentation. A mouse ninja? It’s it’s illustrations are rendered in such a way that I have read and re-read it several times. There’s a quietness to the story. At the end, the author explains more in depth about writing haiku Japanese versus American. I appreciated that but wished he would have abandoned the 5-7-5 form.Book source: a review copy was sent by the publisher.

SANTA CLAUSES by Bob Rackza. Published by Carolrhoda Books.
graders. They loved it. I think the illustrations and text are a perfect match. The students and I loved the little secret nods to other literature such as The Christmas Carol and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. And the students loved the aurora haiku. Yes, it uses the 5-7-5 form but it read aloud with ease.
Book source: from the public library.

Happy Friday.
Happy Poetry.

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