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Guyku: A Year of Haiku For Boys by Bob Raczka and Peter H. Reynolds

Reviewed by: Chris Singer

About the authors:

Bob Raczka was born in Chicago, the oldest of four boys, and grew up in the suburb of Des Plaines.

Bob Raczka’s Art Adventures is his ongoing nonfiction series published by The Millbrook Press. There are currently 14 books in the series. The latest, called Before They Were Famous: How Seven Artists Got Their Start, is a Junior Library Guild selection. He’s also written a series of four books about the seasons, published by Albert Whitman: Spring Things, Summer Wonders, Who Loves the Fall? and Snowy Blowy Winter. His current love is writing children’s poetry. Upcoming titles include Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word(Roaring Brook, Spring 2011), Fall Mixed Up (Carolrhoda, Fall 2011), and Joy in Mudville: A Casey Sequel (Carolrhoda, Spring 2012).

For more information, please visit his website: http://www.bobraczka.com.

Peter H. Reynolds is a professional writer, storyteller and illustrator. He has illustrated the Judy Moody and Stink books, written by Megan McDonald. He also owns a book and toy store called The Blue Bunny. (Peters enjoys signing books for people there—if you happen to be in Dedham Square, MA, stop on by!) And if that isn’t cool enough, he also owns an animation and multimedia studio, FableVision, headquartered high atop the Boston Children’s Museum. For more information, please visit his website: http://www.peterhreynolds.com.

About the book:

When you’re a guy, nature is one big playground—no matter what the season. There are puddles to splash in the spring, pine trees to climb in the summer, maple seeds to catch in the fall, and icicles to swordfight with in the winter.

Nature also has a way of making a guy appreciate important stuff—like how many rocks it takes to dam up a stream, or how much snow equals a day off from school.

So what kind of poetry best captures these special moments, at a length that lets guys get right back to tree-climbing and kite-flying? Why, guyku, of course!

My take on the book:

Poetry can sometimes be a tough sell for kids – especially for boys. I think part of the reason for the tough sell though is the stereotype that poetry is effeminate.

A Year of Haiku for Boys written by Bob Raczka drawings by Peter H. Reynolds Houghton Mifflin  2010 Haiku for and about boys, organized by seasons, full of the sort of things boys do. But not for haiku purists or people who want boys to really understand what haiku are really about. Full of observations of what it means to be a boy, full of mischief and the occasional moment of tenderness,

If you’ve kept an eye on my blog posts over the months, you know I’m very interested in art books for children. Learning to look with an open mind is a crucial skill in developing real multicultural consciousness, and exposure to art can be great training for kids.

No One Saw (2002) was the first in Bob Raczka’s Adventures in Art series (8 books to date), published by Lerner Publishing. “No one saw flowers like Georgia O’Keeffe,” begins his beautiful exploration of how artists bring us vision through their work. Spare rhyming lines are illustrated by signature works of mostly impressionist-era art. “No one saw music like Marc Chagall. No one saw soup like Andy Warhol,” one double page goes, and indeed we never saw either the same way after those artists gave us their views. Short artist bios follow Raczka’s personal, tender concluding message: “Artists express their own point of view. And nobody sees the world like you.”

Bob Raczka’s endearing text and wise curatorship of the art works he presents make all his books classics. Art-loving parents will long be grateful for his skillful aid in embuing a love of art in their offspring. I’m a big fan of Raczka’s; click here for more posts about his books for kids.

In Where in the World?, Bob Raczka takes young readers on an artist’s tour of six continents “without leaving your chair.” Beginning in Japan (one of Hokusai’s 36 Views of Mt. Fuji) and on to Australia (Christo’s Wrapped Coast), Raczka introduces works by Diego Rivera, Gaugin, Klee, Canaletto and six others. Each gets a double page spread with several paragraphs of text explaining the art and the geographical influence on the artist: Tunesia on Klee, for example.

On the cover and in the back of the book, a map of the world wraps up the tour. One of several tapestries designed by Alighiero e Boetti and woven in the 1980’s by Afghani women using traditional rug-making techniques, the map indicates each country with a portion of its flag and “shows us that people from completely different countries and cultures… can ignore artificial borders and work together to create beautiful works of art.” Another map of the world in the book traces Raczka’s armchair route and gives real mileage between destinations.

Where in the World?, aimed for middle school kids, is packed with fascinating details about the art and how it was made. As always, Raczka presents significant works of art without pretense. Kids experience the work for themselves while enjoying the geography along the way. And for more travel (plus art) books for children, click here.

If you’re making plans to visit another culture with children, here’s a multi-genre multitude of resources, from guides for family travel to a pre-teen’s memoir of moving to Africa. Books, sites, lists… something to inspire and ease your travel with children and enrich their multicultural upbringing in the best possible way: experiencing new territory for themselves. Happy travels!

David Elliot Cohen’s One Year Off: Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey With Our Children, in the Traveler’s Tales series, provides an ambitious starting point. Annotated travel-related children’s book lists, organized by country, await you at Travel for Kids. Along with books for young travelers, the Goodlittletraveler website suggests helpful advice about traveling with children. The Pennywhistle Traveling with Kids Book offers vehicular orientation for parents and kids traveling by car, plane, train or boat.

In Alison Lester’s Are We There Yet? 8-year-old Gracie narrates a family vacation all around Australia. Headed to the Caribbean? Here’s a book list. Along with many Fodors guides for kids traveling in Europe and U.S., Madallie: A Children’s Travel Store stocks an around-the-world adventure guide. Exploring Chinatown: A Children’s Guide to Chinese Culture is a great guide to any Chinatown, wherever in the world you’re headed. Four Corners Publishing puts out YA novels for and about young travelers, including guides to Sydney, Mexico, and Israel. In Learning to Swim in Swaziland by Nila K. Leigh, an American 11-year-old describes her life in Africa, where she moved when she was 8.

Introducing young children to international art classics in preparation for travel? Art Up Close makes helpful suggestions. And Bob Raczka’s Where in the World? takes Alighiero e Boetti’s tapestry map of the world as starting point for a world tour of great art–good fun for armchair and hit-the-road young travelers alike.

It's Nonfiction Monday! Visit the roundup at Picture Book of the Day!

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Library Binding: 32 pages
Publisher: Millbrook Press

When I was young, I had little exposure or interest in art. As an adult, I'm surrounded by museums that feature art of various types, and when I visit these museums, I truly appreciate the art but wish I knew more about the history, the technique, and the artists themselves. I should have taken an art history course in college and maybe I'll still do it one of these days. If you have a child who loves art or if you'd like to expose your child to more art, Bob Raczka's Art Adventures series is a great way to introduce art without overwhelming him/her. Through paintings, portraits, photgraphs, sculpture, and easy-to-read text, Bob Raczka introduces some of the world's most famous works of art and encourages young readers to develop an appreciation for it.

A new book in the series, The Art of Freedom: How Artists See America, defines America through the eyes of famous artists. The book features 18 statements answering the question, "What is America?" Each statement is accompanied by a famous work of art that visually represents the statement. Underneath each work of art is the name of the artist, the name of the piece, and the location of where the piece is displayed. For example, beside the statement, "America is an idea," is John Trumbell's painting The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776.
Ansel Adams' Desert Road accompanies the statement, "America is the open road," and Georgia O'Keefe's Brooklyn Bridge is opposite the page that says, "America is man-made marvels."

The background of each page alternates between red and blue with faded stars at the top. The art and colors, combined with the inspiring statements, give the book a very patriotic feel. I can even imagine this book being a great gift choice to US military members as a way to honor their service.

Raczka did an exceptional job of choosing art to compliment the text and makes these famous works of art accessible to young readers without intimidating or overwhelming them, and I am eager to read the other books in the series.

Although I have recently publishedseveral children’s books about art , for the last 20 years I’ve earned a living as an advertising copywriter. As it turns out, writing ads has been great training for writing art books. In fact, you could say that what I’m really doing with my books is advertising art to kids. (If any of you harbor a less-than-charitable opinion of advertising, keep in mind that without advertising, the royalty checks we receive for the books we publish would be a lot smaller!)

The point I’m trying to make is this: Advertising is a way to provide people with information about a specific product, service or cause. Non-fiction writing is a way to provide readers with information about a specific subject. The more creative advertising is, the more attention it gets. The more creative non-fiction writing is…you get the idea.

Take my first children’s art book, NO ONE SAW. There are 18 lines of text in the entire book. Each line is paired up with a famous painting by a different artist. For example, the first line of text reads, “No one saw flowers like Georgia O’Keeffe.” Next to this line is her wonderfully large painting of Calla Lilies. Another line of text reads, “No one saw stars like Vincent van Gogh”, which is paired with his most famous painting, The Starry Night. In essence, each line of text in the book is a headline advertising a particular artist.

The trick is to write a headline that not only imparts information, but does so in an interesting way. We ad writers take pride in getting people to look at things differently, so that whatever we’re advertising will be remembered. The same skill applies to writing non-fiction.

For example, I could have said, “Georgia O’Keeffe became famous for painting really big flowers.” This “headline” is true enough, but it’s also fairly flat-footed and obvious. After all, readers can see from the painting that her flowers are big. But by saying, “No one saw flowers like Georgia O’Keeffe”, I allow readers to come to their own conclusions about how Georgia saw flowers. Not only that, the line makes her vision sound special. It gives her credit for seeing things in her own way, and seeing things in your own way is what the book is really all about.

So if you want your non-fiction to get noticed, consider taking a few pointers from advertising. After all, it has worked pretty well for me

Shannon Hale has a post up about her book, Austenland:

"And on the other hand, I've come under criticism from some for writing a "vulgar" and "trashy" book. This absolutely astounds me. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for every reader having that individual reading experience, for their experience to be much different than mine. I'm just so surprised by it! If it were a movie, I feel pretty confident it'd be rated PG. When I was writing austenland, I thought, "People like me who enjoy romance but don't like to read the smutty stuff will dig this book! It's so fun and clean and yet still sexy!" And then come the accusations of vulgarity. sigh You really, really can't anticipate how people will respond."

It's also well worth it to review the comments for the post, as people respond to this (and other things mentioned in the post.)

I'm intrigued because Hale set out to write a "clean" book. (A term I use reluctantly because I don't agree that sex in a book makes it "dirty", yet it is a term that is used so frequently that I don't have much of a choice.) I didn't get into this aspect in my review, and I have since lent my copy out, but my recollection of the book is that Hale did a great job of being vague about the s.e.x, to the point that it was entirely possible for the reader to think that the main character was still a virgin. Oh, there were boyfriends and kissage and making out; but no s.e.x. Yet, apparently, just the multiple boyfriends (um, not all at the same time!) and the kissing/ making out (all very PG, as Hale says) was enough for people to say "no go." (Actually, vulgar and trashy.)

The point? For some people, even dating and kissing and trying to figure out "do I like guy y or guy x" is going to render a book "not clean." It can be very difficult to match the book to a reader, either as an author or as someone doing reader's advisory (whether the person doing RA is a librarian, parent, teacher, or blogger.) It's yet another reason I try to stay away from the term "clean" and instead ask, what it is the reader wants and is comfortable with reading. Matching up books and readers is an art, not a science; and not everyone shares the same standards, the same criteria, or even the same definition of what a term means.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. Copy from author. Cybils short list 2006. Newbery Honor. My Best Books For 2006 (sidebar).

The Plot: It's 1918; Hattie Brooks is 16; she's an orphan, shuttled from relative to relative. When she finds out that an uncle she didn't know about has died and left her his homestead claim in Montana, she resolves to go, prove the claim, and create a home for herself.

The Good: I adored Hattie Big Sky. And at this point, I do think I am officially the last blogger to review it.

When I read this back in the fall, I immediately wanted to pass it along to everyone -- not only does this work for teens, but for younger kids reading up and for adults. One of the ladies I work with came into the library raving about it, saying how it's the first time in a long time she stayed up late reading, and crying. And refused to believe it's a teen book, much less a kids book.

And that shows just how amazing a title this is -- that it can work for multiple readers. I imagine sixth graders reading this, then rereading it ten years later and marveling at the things they didn't pick up on earlier. There is nothing objectionable for younger readers; yet at the same time, there is a lot going on, from politics to depth of character to motivation, that is best appreciated by older readers.

Hattie is alone in her struggle, alone as she has been all her life. Except she's not. She has neighbors who become friends; including a warm, loving German family. Remember the year. World War I is raging, sons have left to fight in the war, sacrifices are being made for the war effort, and a family that speaks German is not popular, to say the least. But this family reaches out to Hattie, and she discovers that family can be people who are not bound to you by blood.

I love the details -- we know exactly how much Hattie has in the bank, how much things cost, we add and subtract and hold our breath, hoping it will work out. $400 is a lot of money -- will it be enough? How can a teenage girl earn more?

The language is wonderful: "The stew tasted of sage and carrots and hope."

Now for some spoiler stuff.

1918 is also the year of the Influenza Epidemic. So the flu visits Hattie and her friends. And yes -- there is a death. I cried, hating the death. But the death had to happen. One of my great grandmother's sons died from the flu; she was pregnant with her last child and just buried her husband. Death happens, it's not fair, and it would have been a lie not to have a death. But man, it tore my heart out.

The ending was note perfect: Hattie starts out wanting to create a home by proving up her claim. She sacrifices, counts pennies, learns to build fences and plant. And at the end of the book, she has create a "home", a sense of belonging -- but not in the way she thought.

And some more spoiler stuff.

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You see, Hattie doesn't prove her claim up. Not only that; she ends up in debt. But Hattie has hope; and while some people mock books that end with hope, I love hope that is realistic and earned. Hattie has a sense of belonging now, a sense of home, because of the friends she has made. She doesn't stay with them -- she has to go off on her own to make money to pay down her debts -- but Hattie realizes that if you have people in your heart, if you have people who care about you, that it all that matters.

I cried. I adored it. And that is why it's a book for grown ups. Because by traditional standards she has lost: she has no home, is in debt, is separated from friends and loved ones. Yet in her heart she has won. "Though I should feel a total failure, my time on the prairie has branded this hope on my hear: next year it will be better." And I think I love this book, and Hattie, and Kirby Larson, because that is my own hope.

Links:
My interview with Kirby Larson at The Edge of the Forest.
Bildungsroman/Little Willow interview.
Bildungsroman / Little Willow review.
Newbery and Caldecott medals awarded in Seattle (SeattlePI.com)
Deliciously Clean Reads review.
The Longstockings: About Hattie
Swarm of Beasts review.
AmoxCalli review
Jen Robinson's review
A Fuse #8 Production review
Miss Erin review
bookshelves of doom review

Whimsy is starting a new blog, Deliciously Clean Reads, and is looking for contributors to review books.

What I like about this brand new blog:

* It's about finding books to read and recommend, rather than finding books to keep away from people. It's a positive review source, not a negative review source.

* Whimsy acknowledges that different people have different definitions of what is clean; so she sets forth her criteria and a sample book list.

* It includes a lot of new books, but it's also looking at older titles.

* The sidebar links to a variety of booklists from many sources.