Ten Books for National Poetry Month (plus a weekly poetry challenge)

  April is a mere five days away, and that means it’s almost National Poetry Month! To help you get a kick start to celebrating poetry throughout April, we’ve put together an assortment of book recommendations. You’ll find a little bit of everything in this list of ten books: poetry collections, picture book stories told in poems, biographies of poets, even a novel in verse! We hope this list is just the beginning of a month of reading, discussing and doing (that is, writing ) poetry! We have a month long celebration planned in which we challenge our readers and the children in their lives to read, discuss, and write four different types of poems—one challenge per week. You can join the weekly poetry fun by subscribing to our newsletter , visiting the website regularly for updates, following us on Instagram (@readdiscussdo), or all of the above! To read : Choose a book from this list or any poetry book. To discuss : Do you usually like poetry? Why or why not? Can you think of a poem y

National Poetry Month Celebration: Haiku


Welcome to week two of Read, Discuss, Do's poetry celebration! This week we are encouraging you to read, discuss, and write haiku, a Japanese poetic form made up of 3 lines. A traditional haiku is often about something in nature, but it doesn't have to be.

Dogku by Andrew Clements and Wonton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw (illustrated by Eugen Yelchin) are both stories about pets told in a series of haiku. Also look for its companion book, Wonton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku. And be sure to keep reading for an example of a "catku" that Lee was kind enough to share especially for this post!

Whoo-ku Haiku by Maria Gianferrari (illustrated by Jonathan Voss) is also a story told in a series of haiku. More true to the traditional haiku in subject matter, the story is about a family of great horned owls.

In Lion of the Sky by Laura Purdie Salas (illustrated by Mercè López) the haiku are also riddle poems!

A few other haiku books:

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Chris Raczka (illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds)

If Not for the Cat by Jack Prelutsky (illustrated by Ted Rand)

I Haiku You by Betsy Snyder


Here are some examples of haiku:


Colorful leaves drift

streaming bits of confetti

fall's celebration

© Rebecca J. Gomez


Blind Tom hunched at old

hole, poised to pounce for so long - 

slips into a nap

© Lee Wardlaw


Two miles. Heart pumping.

Wind rushing, affirmation

....I forgot my gloves.

© Samantha Coté


Are you ready to write your own now? Feel free to share your (or your kids') haiku in the comments. 


About the poets:

Rebecca J. Gomez is the founder of Read, Discuss, Do!, an author, and a poet. Find out more about her and her books at www.rebeccajgomez.com.

Lee Wardlaw is an award-winning author and poet. Her book Wonton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku won the Lee Bennet Hopkins Poetry Award and the Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Award, and many others. Wonton and Choptstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku was an NCTE Notable Poetry Book and it won the Booksource Scout Award for Poetry. Find out more about Lee and her books at her website, leewardlaw.com

Samantha Coté is an outspoken poet and blogger, and the daughter of Rebecca J. Gomez. You can read more of her musings at her blog, thoughtmoot.blogspot.com.

Comments

Samantha Coté said…
I think haiku is the perfect form of poetry for cats. Succinct yet elegant. Sometimes incredibly difficult.