GUYKU: A YEAR OF HAIKU FOR BOYS by Bob Razcka

Raczka, Bob. 2010. Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. Illustrated by Peter Reynolds. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780547240039

                                     

Haiku by definition is a Japanese nature poem of three lines using five syllables in the first and third lines and seven syllables in the second.  It has become an increasingly popular form of poetry.  It has become so popular that subject matter is no longer limited to nature but expanded to include anything from the alphabet to zombies.  Bob Raczka, however has stayed true to its original intent and has written a delightful book of haiku celebrating his love of nature and his boyhood memories.  

Peter Reynolds' loveable cartoonish boys are drawn alone or in a pair until the end page when he draws three boys with shirts that sport numbers 5, 7, 5 to mirror the syllable count of the poetry.  Raczka dedicates this book to his two sons, and Peter Reynolds dedicates his work to his 16 nephews.  With so many male experiences to draw from, each poem is a picture of a real event that most any boy would be able to experience or imagine.  The book is written by seasons, with each new season named in black script on a double spread with one small touch of identifying color (green dot for spring, yellow sun for summer, etc.).

Raczka’s poetry is so natural, it sounds like talking.  For example,

How many million

flakes will it take to make a

snow day tomorrow?

His childlike imagery is easy to visualize and makes me smile when he says,

Winter must be here.

Every time I open my

mouth, a cloud comes out.

I love when he wonders if his melting snowman might have a “spring allergy.”

Kite flying, camping, bike riding, skipping stones, and fishing, are just a few of the universal entertainments on an American boy-card that Raczka consecrates in verse.  In 24 poems he encapsulates boyhood. 

Guyku would make a great gift for boys of all ages as it calls up so many good memories.  But as an academic tool, it is very versatile too.  The book has a natural appeal to boys as well as girls and could inspire a class to try their hand in preserving a memory in 17 syllables.  A class book of the poems and illustrations would make an impressive feature at open house or a end of the year keepsake.  But even just listening to the poetry and recalling the carefree joy of childhood is a gift all by itself worth sharing aloud with someone special.

WORDS WITH WINGS by Nikki Grimes

Grimes, Nikki. Words with Wings. 2013. Honesdale: Wordsong. ISBN 9781590789858.

Nikki Grimes, the 2006 winner of the NTCE Award for Excellence in Poetry for children has added a verse novel to her body of work.  Words with Wings is about Gabby (named after the angel Gabriel), a daydreamer whose mind can’t help catching words that carry her away to worlds all their own.  We follow her through the sadness of her parents’ separation, a move to a new school, loneliness, finding a friend, and eventually finding a way to express her daydreams without getting into trouble (thanks to a special teacher). The contents of the book list 71 poems in two fonts. The poems that tell the story are in a traditional bold font, and the poems that tell us the words that send her daydreaming, are set in a delicate font that suggests weightlessness.  

Grimes uses a variety of forms, but her free verse seems dominant.  Two of my favorites, however, are written in Haiku. 

 

Hope

I hope this new school

has a Cheri who’ll think

daydreamers are cool.

Explain This, Please

Mom names me for a

creature with wings, then wonders

what makes my thoughts fly.

In the poem for which the book is named, you can get a glimpse of the beautiful word craft that has made Grimes so popular. 

 

Words with Wings

Some words

 sit still on the page

 holding a story steady.

Those words

never get me into trouble. 

But other words have wings

that wake my daydreams.

They fly in,

silent as sunrise,

tickle my imagination,

and carry my thoughts away.

I can’t help

but buckle up

for the ride!

One of the important characters in this verse novel is the special teacher she has at her new school who is alert to his students whose minds wander.  Mr. Spicer (named for a real teacher) tries to find ways to capture their creativity and celebrate it.  He is an inspiration to any teacher who finds it a challenge to engage some of their “hard to reach” students.  Gabby’s character is also a sweet reminder of those children who seem lost, but sometimes just need a little more patience to learn the secret that will help them thrive. 

I would recommend this as a classroom read aloud for students in grades three to five.  The variety of emotions in the events of this story are easy for any child to empathize with, since every child has felt sad, lonely, scared, or left out at some time or other.  Following the read aloud, students could write about their own dreams or daydreams.  The dreams could be written on beautiful origami paper and folded into paper cranes or any other winged art to hang as a decoration in the room.  You could also use this book as a spring board for a writing exercise or thesaurus practice.  Students could pick a “flat” word such as “big” and find as many synonyms as possible to creatively enliven that word.  Decorating in a hot air balloon theme to coincide with local hot air balloons festivals in the spring or fall could also set writing creativity aloft. Just like Words with Wings, the sky’s the limit!

ALPHABETABUM: AN ALBUM OF RARE PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEDIUM VERSES by Chris Raschka & Vladimir Radunsky

Raschka, Christopher. 2014. Alphabetabum: An Album of Rare      Photographs and MediumVerses. Photo collection by Vladimir Radunsky. NewYork: The New York Review Children’s Collection.
ISBN 9781590178171

Rr

Raschka and Radunsky

relate rhyming renditions with
rare representations of real relatives.
                                                   d.w.

Uh… what I meant to say is that this double R team has made a charming collaborative contribution to the world of ABC books by pairing a three line verse with a rare photo.  Raschka has created a verse for each letter of the alphabet using alliteration to assign a fictional name to the child in the photo and to describe something that is going on in the photo (or that we could imagine might be going on). The photos are from Radunsky’s collection of sepia toned photos from the turn of the century gathered from antique shops and flea markets across the United States, Europe and Russia.  

In addition to the alphabetical rhymes and photos, we are treated to some of the beautiful calligraphic logos of the photographers that took the photos. Other enchanting photos of captivating adults evoke smiles and curiosity.  Radunsky also includes an explanation at the back of the book about his photo collection.

Alphetabum looks different from any other Raschka book I have seen since it does not have his characteristic Caldecott winning art work.  But he demonstrates his poetic and humorous chops in the verses he creates to go with the photos.  Not all the verses and photos make a perfect pair, however.  For example: 

Kk

Keen Kerry Keith

Keeps smiling

through his teeth

is opposite a photo of a young boy (perhaps eight years) who is not smiling at all.  Again, 

Jj

Jumpy Joanie Jewel

Just barely keeps the jitters

from jiggling her from her stool

is opposite a photo of a little girl (maybe three years) who doesn’t look the least bit jittery (or even happy) and not at all in danger of “jiggling off her stool.” These rhymes juxtaposed with less than perfectly matching verse, might be confusing to a younger, more literal audience, but I found it enhanced the humor.

I would recommend this book for older children simply because of the humor, but younger children could still enjoy the alliteration and the rhyme that is reminiscent of the nonsense of a nursery rhyme.  I can see a class having fun taking funny pictures of each other and writing a short poem to go with it, or introducing ones family by the same format.  Each poem or photo could be its own individual writing prompt.  But however you choose to enjoy it, your own imagination is your best companion. 

BOW WOW MEOW MEOW: IT'S RHYMING CATS AND DOGS by Douglas Florian

Florian, Douglas. 2003. Bow Wow Meow Meow: It’s Rhyming Cats and Dogs. San Diego:  Harcourt.  Inc. ISBN 0152163956

Thank you, Douglas Florian, for another delightful contribution to children’s poetry in this book of 21 original poems and paintings of our favorite canines and felines in the animal kingdom.

Perfect for young ears, these tender vittles of poetic inspiration fetch giggles and guffaws.  My personal favorite:

The Jaguarundi

     by Douglas Florian

The Jaguarundi hunts by day

     Then sleeps inside its lair.

And when it wakes it likes to play

     In jaguarundi-wear.

I have long ceased to try and understand the fascination of young children with all things underwear related, but my long experience with children tells me that this poem will make a classroom burst into laughter as sure as the sun will rise. 

Florian’s poetry has strong rhyme and kid appeal.  Text in curls, question marks, and Dalmatian splotches enhance the fun even more.  The dog breeds he writes about are familiar pet breeds, but six of the cat breeds are big cats that would more likely trigger a young boy’s interest.  The poetry is brief enough to hold a short attention span, simple enough for young experience, and funny enough to tickle the giggle box if not turn it over.

What child doesn’t love their pet or dream of a wild one.  With February 20 being “National Love Your Pet Day,” celebrate this and other animal poems in your school or library.  Florian’s unique and childlike artwork whets the natural urge of a child to draw their own pet in an expression of love, mischief, or frivolity.  The extensions into children’s literature are too numerous to mention, but one could start with favorites like Cookie’s Week by Cindy Ward, Stray Dog by Marc Simont, and Some Dog by Mary Casanova.  While Valentine’s Day fun is still lingering, follow up with Palentine’s Day’s and have fun making poetic valentines for pets or favorite animals.  Here goes:

Write a pet poem,

It’s not hard to do,

If I can do it,

So can you.

   D.W.

   

 

THIS IS JUST TO SAY: POEMS OF APOLOGY AND FORGIVENESS by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, Joyce. 2007 This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618616800

NCTE award winner, Joyce Sidman, and Caldecott Honor winner Pamela Zagarenski, team up in this unique book of verse that has won numerous awards including a Texas Bluebonnet Award Nomination and School Library Journal Book of the Year.  The table of contents alerts the reader to the Introduction, the poem by William Carlos Williams that inspired the title of the book, Part 1 Apologies, and Part 2 Responses.  The poems are written as letters of apology from the fictional Mrs. Merz’ sixth grade students.   Motivated by an assignment in their poetry unit, they are so pleased with their poems that they decide to put them in a book and even ask for subsequent poetic responses to the “sorry” letters.  Eighteen apologies and 17 responses will entertain, and pull emotional responses from every corner of your heart.  Sidman writes her poems in various forms from haiku to dialogue including her favorite form, pantoum.  It’s easy to believe that a classroom of sixth graders wrote these poems, because Sidman’s poetic voices are convincingly unique and her topics are age appropriate.  Dodge Ball competitions, love of pets, sibling conflict, school stress, parental irresponsibility, are just a few of the authentic topics that these phantom sixth graders wrestle with. Zagarenski’s whimsical illustrations compliment the text perfectly as if the students had illustrated the book themselves.  

My favorite in the collection is one of the more poignant poems written by Anthony to his mother.  It is written in the pantoum form with the second and fourth lines of each stanza being repeated in the first and third lines of the next stanza.

Spelling Bomb

by Joyce Sidman

I can’t believe I lost.

I know I disappointed you.

Do you really think I don’t care?

I know how important it is to win.

I know I disappointed you;

I saw it in your face when I misspelled.

I know how important it is to win;

I studied hours and hours.

I saw it in your face when I misspelled.

I saw you turn away from me.

Even though I study hours and hours,

I never seem to be your champion.

I saw you turn away from me

and in that moment would have given anything

to be your champion.

To see your bright, triumphant pride.

In this moment, I would give anything—

do you really think I don’t care?--

for your bright, triumphant pride,

which I can’t believe I lost.

by Anthony

I would introduce this poem with a discussion about times when students let down their parents and times when parents have let down their kids, or about experiences of school stress.  I would encourage the students to write their own letters of apology, or letters they wish someone would write to them.  If the mood needs to stay in a lighter mode, the discussion could take a turn toward fantasy and a more lighthearted deflection could be suggested by imagining school pressure or disapproval in an animal family or other fictional creation.