Module 9 – Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku

Citation:

Janeczko, P. B. and Lewis, P. J. (2006). Wing nuts: screwy Haiku. New York: Little Brown and Company. 

Summary: 

This book is filled with really silly haikus, all with accompanying illustrations. Some of the poems have a devious sense of humor about them. For example, take the haiku "Sluggish squirrel lurches across the busy highway to the other si--" (p. 15). The accompanying picture shows an old squirrel with a cane slowly making his way across the road, and a car (the shape of a duck) speeding close to him with a look of horror on the driver's face. Many of the poems also include a play on words. For example, “Grandpa’s underwear pulled up so high—a chest of drawers” (p. 21). This haiku is paired with a picture of an elderly man standing near a dresser with his underpants hiked up.  

Impressions: 

This was an incredibly cute book, and the marriage of the poems to the illustrations is a great part of why this book works. The play on words, and double meanings peppered throughout the poems are also terrific aspects of the text. I think students will have fun deciphering the meaning (or perhaps double meaning) behind the poems as they flip through it. Some of the poems will require more work on their part, whereas others will elicit a reaction quickly. 

Usage in a Library:

This of course would be an excellent way to introduce children to the framework on how haikus are written, and the clever ways to work within the format.  This is also a good text to use in demonstrating a play on words or double meanings of phrases, or how an author can play with spelling to create meaning or subtext. You don’t have to limit this to elementary audiences either, these are all difficult things to teach, and could be helpful in quickly demonstrating these concepts to middle schoolers or even high schoolers. A Haiku story-time could then be followed by writing a Haiku over one of their favorite books in the library and slipping it inside that book, so that the next student that checks it out will get a little surprise to read.

Review: 

Noted poets Janeczko and Lewis join forces in this collection of over a score of lighthearted haiku, a genre known, according to flap copy, as senryu. The humor ranges from plays on words ("Insect photographer/ introduces himself:/ I'm a shutterbug") to comic scenarios ("Traveling circus—/ the knife thrower/ hiccups") to amusing images ("Grumpy bear growl/ blends with chirp of rusty hinge . . . / Mom and Dad snoring"). Recurring motifs of food and socially marginal humor from gross to dark ensure youthful appeal, with such verses interspersed with a few more sophisticated entries that might require a little healthy readerly thought to get the joke ("Noah Webster had/ no choice except to put/ the cart before the horse"); overall, the phraseology is effectively pithy and the images enhanced through their compactness. Tusa's line-and-watercolor illustrations take off on a journey of their own, depicting a young striped-shirted protagonist wandering from spread to spread through elaborate scenes of silliness. Though the art sometimes misses clear illustrative opportunities or visually overbalances the simple texts with busy compositions, the details and casual energy of the scenes are attractive. Readers will enjoy poring over the spreads to pull out their stories, and there's considerable potential for the poems as inspiration for various kinds of language arts work as well as reading aloud to younger kids with a taste for punny jokes. 

Review Citation:

Stevenson, D. (2006). Wing nuts: Screwy Haiku (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 59(8,) 360. doi: 10.1353/bcc.2006.0282