If Not for the Cat

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: A visual feast.
A literary delight.
(You'll feel for the mouse.)

Haiku is simple enough in theory: it's three lines, each with five syllables, seven and then five again. Here, poet Prelutsky and illustrator Rand show how the simple can be made sublime in the hands of true masters.

A third-grade friend, having looked at the book and heard the 'rules' of Haiku, immediately composed a poem to her pet hamster:

We scurry like mice.
We run from nighttime to dawn.
We are soft and cute.

(I'd mention that my friends are now e-mailing each other in Haiku, but if you hadn't read the book, you wouldn't understand...)

This book is a treasure for children of all ages.

And would someone PLEASE get that poor mouse some cheese!