Write Your Own Haiku for Kids - by Patricia Donegan (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Write poetry in the Japanese tradition: easy step-by-step instructions to compose simple poems" -- at head of title.

Book Synopsis

*Winner Armed with the Arts Inc. Creative Book Award*

In this fun Japanese children's book, kids will learn to create haiku--elegant and simplistic Japanese poems.

Haiku is a uniquely Japanese form of poetry that uses vivid words and imagery to capture a feeling or a moment in just three lines. Short but powerful, haiku poems are easy and fun to write and share with your friends. Haiku has become increasingly popular in school curriculums around the world, particularly among teachers introducing students to the art of poetry, as well as Asian history and heritage. The activities in this haiku-for-kids book will show you how to create original haiku and help you to think up meaningful words and images with which you can write beautiful poetry.

Write Your Own Haiku For Kids introduces four styles of haiku to readers with clear explanations and numerous examples. This book includes chapters on:

• Your first haiku--how to get started writing this classic form of poetry
• Haiku about Nature--a traditional element in haiku
• Haibun--Haiku with a short story
• Haiga--Haiku with a drawing
• Renga--Haiku that you write together with friends

The study and creation of haiku is a great way to have fun with both writing and reading poetry while exploring remarkable aspects of Japanese culture.

Review Quotes

"A glossary and a haiku resource guide round out this excellent choice for children as well as teachers seeking fresh materials for poetry units." --Booklist

"Haiku is a traditional Japanese poetry form that uses images from nature to capture a moment in life. Haiku are fun to write. Learn how to compose these short, simple but profound poems." --Skipping Stones magazine

"Poetry has often gotten a bad rap among kids, much to the chagrin of nerdy teacher types like me. I'm always on the lookout for resources to make poetry, and especially Japanese poetry, more accessible and enjoyable for kids. Look no further than this book. It takes the seemingly simple haiku and reveals the complexity contained in just three lines. What a breath of fresh air compared to the usual way that we describe haiku--focusing strictly on the 5-7-5 syllable pattern...As a how-to book, its ideas for combining haiku with stories and prose (to make haibun) or with drawings (to make haiga) will spark creativity for both kids and adults." --Nichi Bei

"This book entices children to think more deeply about the world around them, to see things from a new perspective, to be in touch with nature, to feel the blade of grass beneath their feet, and to imagine themselves as a ladybug on the grass. They learn about seasonal words and ways in which they can express emotions, nature, and seasons without using that word itself. [...] It's one of those books you won't know you needed until after you've used it." -- Castle View Academy

"This book gives a bit of history as well as what a haiku is and then gives the seven steps to writing a haiku. [...] Have you ever written a haiku? They are fun to write and read! Be sure to check out this fun book to get you started." -- Crafty Moms Share blog

"This book is geared toward children, and is set up like a picture book. But it is much more than that. Yes, there are many illustrations and the text is varied in its typefaces and formatting, while the layout--with two columns on each page--breaks up the extensive text. Further, the writing is straightforward and friendly. Altogether, it makes this fairly complete look at writing Haiku engaging and thorough, and suitable for all ages, including children. The book is well-bound and printed, and packs a lot of interesting info into its 50 pages." -- KidsR.Us

"This wonderful step-by-step guide teaches children and adults about the art of haiku and renga (linked poem). Beginning with simple instructions and advancing on to activities, poetry students can learn and grow from the rich history and examples of thought processes presented here. (...) VERDICT A well-constructed and thoughtful guide for fledgling poets. School and classroom libraries will want to purchase." -- School Library Journal

About the Author

Patricia Donegan served on the faculty of East-West poetics at Naropa University under Allen Ginsberg and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, was a student of haiku master Seishi Yamaguchi, and a Fulbright scholar to Japan. She is a meditation teacher, previous poetry editor for Kyoto Journal, and a longtime member of the Haiku Society of America. Her haiku works include Love Haiku: Japanese Poems of Yearning, Passion & Remembrance (cotranslated with Yoshie Ishibashi), Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart, Haiku: Asian Arts for Creative Kids, and Chiyo-ni Woman Haiku Master (cotranslated with Yoshie Ishibashi). Her poetry collections include: Hot Haiku, Bone Poems, Without Warning, Heralding the Milk Light, and haiku selections in various anthologies.

She won first prize in the 1998 Mainichi International Haiku Contest and won a Merit Book Award for translation from the Haiku Society of America for her book on Chiyo-ni, also in 1998. Her books on haiku have combined scholarship and insight in reaching young and old to inspire and sustain a lifelong interesting in haiku poetry, in both Japanese and English.