The Books
GUYKU: A Year of Haiku for Boys
Hardcover, 48 pages
Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (2010-10-04)
List Price: $14.99
Actual Price: $10.19
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Amazon Description
The wind and I play
tug-of-war with my new kite.
The wind is winning.
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!
One Potato Review
Try to get past the title here. “A good haiku can pack a punch,” says the author in his afterword, but the form is really incidental to these ruminations, which are also nominally organized around the seasons. And they’re not just for guys:
“Pine tree invites me
to climb him up to the sky.
How can I refuse?”
Hey, who turned off all
the crickets? I’m not ready
for summer to end.
The best part about
kicking this stone home from school
is there are no rules.”
Simple and joyous, with illustrations by Peter Reynolds (Ish, The Dot) at his anecdotal best.

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