Childhood Haikus: Seeing into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright and Nina Crews

The haiku from Richard Wright's childhood came from the closely observed landscapes and animals he knew, the railroad trains that rumbled down the middle of the town, the caws of the crows and the rustling of the leaves, a dusty road down which his bike travels, the blue of the skies in which his yellow kite rises, and a sunset that colors and changes everything. --Nina Crews

Empty railroad tracks. And the rails leap with life.

Like the classic style dictates, Richard Wright's haikus capture a tiny memory, a moment in time as a child might see it.

Suddenly mindful,

the tree was looking at me,

each green leaf alive.

In her Seeing into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright (Millbrook Press), artist Nina Crews sets Wright's haiku against photos of real boys in the real outdoors, arranged together to set off the meaning and feeling of each haiku, the photos and the text each a slice of life, caught in the moment. For reading aloud and for poetry lessons, this book is perfect for youngsters learning to listen to the music of words and to write their own poetry.
Says Publishers Weekly, "The clustered, overlapping photographs scatter and dissipate at the edges of the spreads, subtly reflecting the evanescence of the moments Wright describes."

Hai-Cool! Santa Clauses: Short Poems from the North Pole by Bob Raczka

Santa is a man of many talents--toy maker, reindeer trainer, sleigh pilot, world traveler. But did you know that he is also a poet?

Years ago, Mrs. Claus gave him a book of haiku. Santa loved these poems. He was inspired to write his own.

There are thousands of Santa stories, but not very much in the way of Santa poetry, except, of course, for that long poem about his famous visit to a house with the insomniac dad which launched St. Nick's celebrity.

But this one is rare--not written in quaint iambs, but in Santa's favorite poetic form, if we are to believe Bob Raczka, whose new holiday book, Santa Clauses: Short Poems from the North Pole (Carolrhoda Picture Books) (Junior Library Guild Selection) (CarolRhoda Books, 2014) ascribes an advent assortment of twenty-five haiku from Santa's own typewriter. Here's poet St. Nicholas-san, reflecting upon the first day of the Christmas rush:

December 1:
The wishes blow in
from my over-filled mailbox.
December's first storm.

Raczka's haiku vary as the days get over toward the big day, sometimes sweet and nostalgic, sometimes with quite poetic imagery, and one with self-deprecatory humor as Santa struggles to button up his too-tight red tunic.

December 3:
Mrs. Claus makes a snow
angel and becomes a
little girl again.

December 4:
Sprinkling sand on my
snow-covered steps, thinking
of nutmeg on eggnog.


December 24:
Which is packed tighter,
the sack full of toys or the
red suit full of me?

Raczka ghost-writes Santa's Japanese haiku with elan and his collaborator, artist Chuck Groenink, gives them a perfect setting in his warm and humorous, but amazingly striking illustrations in mixed media, showing both folksy-cozy indoor scenes of the Claus cottage and lovely snowscapes alive with beauty. Published in a snow storm of rave reviews. this one may become a new classic, perfect for reading an entry each night of the days of Christmas to come. "A rare treat," says Kirkus Reviews.

Calendar Haiku: Hi, Koo! by Jon Muth

ICICLES
REACH DOWN WITH DRIPPING FINGERS.
WILL YOU TOUCH THE GROUND?

In the time of the turning of seasons, we look at nature more closely. Notable author/illustrator Jon Muth believes that a "haiku... is an instant capture in words of an image [which] reminds us that our own human nature is not a separate form of nature," and uses this heightened awareness as the backdrop for his "year of seasons."

As his spokesman, Muth brings back his little panda character, Koo, and lets him wander gently through the seasons, showing us what we might otherwise overlook in each time. Here's little Koo, revisiting a memorable moment in Ezra John Keats' classic, The Snowy Day, as a snow-laden branch dumps a clump on his head:

KING!
MY CROWN A GIFT
FROM A SNOWY BRANCH.

A Caldecott award-winning illustrator, Jon Muth shows off his admirable pen-and-ink draftsmanship, married to soft watercolor wash,  giving us vignettes which invite the eye to linger, as when we see Koo celebrating his snow-clump coronation, as a bright red cardinal whose landing on the branch caused the avalanche, enjoys the results of his mischief. And during a long summer twilight, Koo and two kids stay outside to play with light and shadow:

FLASHLIGHTS
SPARKLE IN PUDDLES.
SHADOWS CLIMB TREES.

Muth has an easy-going take in his free-form haiku, each one a word picture greatly amplified by his lovely full-page spreads done in his impressionistic realism, with touches of humor and joy. As a added attraction, Muth also tucks in a surprise alphabet lesson, with the letters in order appearing as a capital letter in each of his 26 poems.

John Muth's Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons (Scholastic Press, 2014) is a thoroughly delightful example of the high art of the picture book, a miraculous melding of language and images in which both companionship and nature itself have starring roles. A book to treasure, for quiet sharing or for use with classes studying the seasons, the alphabet, or poetry.

Kirkus gives this one a starred review, saying "Throughout, condensed poetic image coupled with spare illustration yields huge effect; in a word, magical."