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Thursday, February 21, 2019

#haikulove for H is For Haiku

Did you know that February is National Haiku Writing Month? I did not realize that until today but I have been spreading #haikulove throughout the month. In keeping with the haiku celebration this month, I am sharing an amazing treasure trove of A to Z haiku from Sydell Rosenberg (1929-1996), an accomplished poet whose imaginative poetry will delight you and hopefully inspire you to read and even write haiku.


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For decades, Amy Losak, daughter of poet Sydell Rosenberg, worked tirelessly to make her mother's dream of publishing H Is For Haiku, A Treasury of Haiku From A to Z come true. On April 10, 2018, the dream became a reality; Sydell's book was published. Amy and I have been exchanging messages about her mother's book for several months so I am excited to showcase Sydell's work and provide readers with Amy's perspective on the charming and whimsical way her mother envisioned haiku. 

Haiku is that fledgling moment when
the wingstrokes become sure-when the
bird has staying power in the air
-Sydell Rosenberg


Parents, educators, and children will fall in love with Sydell's small nuggets of thoughts on city life and nature in H Is For Haiku. Her book is an invitation to slow down, pause, and savor the small moments of life. Let's take a look inside this treasure trove of haiku happiness.



In light of the recent snow that has fallen on Long Island and larger amounts in other parts of the country, I present Sydell's haiku for the letter C:



My little grandbaby would be upset if her baby could not be retrieved from a buried car but this dolly appears to be excited about her adventure. Sydell's 5-7-5 syllable pattern and child-friendly wordplay heightened by Sawsan Chalabi's imaginative illustration and visually appealing font provide the right amount of whimsy for a winter tale. 



The meteorologists accurately reported that Long Island's snow would come and go, so the following haiku by Rosenberg seems appropriate, especially since my husband usually forgets to take in my Grandmother's vintage watering can. 



In this imaginative haiku celebrating the letter D, the arrangement of raindrops from a human-like cloud brings nature to life and invites us into the poem.



In this haiku featuring the letter H, don't you just love that Rosenberg compared umbrellas to mushrooms and that Chalabi's brightly colored artwork captures the intent of the poem in a fanciful way? Based upon the Long Island weather report, this morning I thought I would see a line of children with umbrellas like the one above but nature had other plans. The sun decided to appear instead of the predicted rain. At least, I have this haiku to remind me that weather can be damp and wet but sparkly, too. 





I hope you are intrigued by the sneak peek of H Is For Haiku. There are 26 haiku in this charming alphabet book for little ones and adults. Now let's turn our attention to Amy Losak and her journey to fulfill her mother's wish.


Interview with Amy Losak

1. Amy, how did you begin the process of showcasing your mother's work?
The process was slow and halting. It took me such a long time to mobilize, for various reasons having to do with my own innate tendency to procrastinate, my fear and lack of self-confidence, and my continuing and paralyzing grief over my mother's sudden death in 1996. Thanks to the support of many understanding people, I finally began to make some small but eventually steady strides in reviewing and organizing some of her copious work. This was around 2011,

At one point, I had a kind of Eureka moment: I remembered that, a long time ago, mom had one idea in mind for illustrating her manuscript, if it ever became a book: children. I came up with my own, related idea to contact nonprofit children’s art education organizations and offer mom’s “word-picture” haiku as teaching tools. I also contacted various other organizations serving kids: nature and literacy groups, child life specialists, etc., with my ideas to integrate the beauty of haiku into their educational, creative, or therapeutic programs.

At last, I connected with an outstanding New York organization, Arts For All (arts-for-all.org), and they “got” my vision. We’ve had a successful partnership for several years now. I fund the teaching residencies. AFA teachers have used a number of mom’s haiku in two city schools (one in the Bronx, one in Queens) to help teach the basics of drawing, painting, and collage; music; and theater, to mostly second-grade students (and other grades, as well). I’ve had an opportunity to visit the two schools several times to discuss mom’s haiku and share some of her story (it’s important that they connect the words to a real person: the writer). The teaching artists are so talented and dedicated, under the amazing leadership of Executive Director, Anna Roberts-Ostroff.

Other rewarding endeavors I have engaged in:
-Programs with the Children’s Museum of the Arts (Manhattan), the Queens Botanical Garden (Queens, NY), and the Teaneck Creek Conservancy (Teaneck, NJ).
-Free event at the Poets House in Manhattan. 
-Upcoming workshop on April 25 for Poem In Your Pocket Day-https://poetshouse.org/event/poem-in-your-pocket-day-2/

2. What do think of the way the illustrator visualized your mother's haiku?
Sawsan Chalabi’s art is wonderful–full of vim and joy and I love the clever lettering. The poems are an integral part of the illustration. Schalabi.com

3. What are your next steps for promoting the concept of small moments?
I hope to continue interacting with young people in various settings on the potential for haiku to elicit and capture an appreciation for the “small moments” that surround our daily lives. I also hope to publish another haiku picture book, perhaps one that combines my work with my mom’s. It’s in the works!

4. What would you like to add to our discussion, Amy? 
I view myself as an eternal beginner. I started writing haiku late and I have a lot to learn. This is fine! For me, it's more about the process than the results. Writing haiku has opened my eyes and all my senses to the myriad small moments that can be treasures, if we only take the time to perceive them. I enjoy writing haiku, even though it’s anything but easy. Of course, this process helps me stay connected to my mom. Poets study and practice this form seriously for years. It's a dedicated community that is global. I feel fortunate to be part of it, thanks to social media.

5. Let's list the accolades for your mother's book, Amy.
-Chosen by National Council of Teachers of English as a 2019 Notable Poetry Book
-Nominated for the 2018 Cybils Award in Poetry 
-Included in SCBWI's 2018 Official Reading List
-Selected by Amelia Island Book Festival in Florida for its Authors in Schools program
-Received 35 ratings and 20 reviews on Goodreads.com
-300 third grade students at Yulee Elementary School attended Amy Losak's presentation and        received copies of H Is For Haiku

As Amy says, "Some of Syd's short poems (a few were published decades ago) have a city sensibility. But they also have a universal, timeless appeal. Haiku are brief: they impel young readers to slow down and linger over something they may ordinarily overlook, and perhaps find bits of magic there."

I would like to thank Amy Losak for continuing conversations with me so the magic of her mother's delightful haiku could be showcased during National Haiku Writing Month.


I close with my version of a weather report for Long Island


and what I imagine Virginia weather would be like.


These digital inspirations were humbly designed using Rosenberg's delightful haiku and Chalabi's imaginative illustrations as mentor texts.


This week, Poetry Friday is hosted by the talented poet, experienced haiku writer, and creative entrepreneur, Robyn Black at her blog site, Life on the Deckled EdgePlease circle back during April for National Poetry Month when all the Poetry Friday poets will be celebrating.



Save the Dates:
4/17/19 - International Haiku Poetry Day
4/26/19 - Poem In Your Pocket Day

*Interested readers can purchase a copy of H Is For Haiku: A Treasury of Haiku from A to Z, by Sydell Rosenberg and Sawsan Chalabi (Penny Candy Books) at your favorite local or online booksource.

22 comments:

  1. So wonderful to take the time to honor a loved one's work... I mean, that takes so much dedication! I have files upon files of my father's stories and think they deserve a wider audience, but it is so daunting! And nice to know Amy is an "eternal beginner." Me too! Thanks for sharing, Carol. xo

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    1. Yes, Irene, this was a heartwarming story of persistence and love so I am glad that the book finally became a reality. Your father's story will be an adventure for you. Have a great weekend.

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  2. I love Amy's (Syd's) book of haiku, Carol, have shared it myself, and bring it out to look again when I'm trying to write my own. And I enjoyed the extra interview information from Amy. She is doing lots of wonderful sharing. Your haiku are like the icing on the cake. Snow is part of our winter life this year! "toddler stares in wonder" makes me smile! Thanks!

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    1. Linda, I was just reading your PF blog post when your comment popped up on my stats. I will go back and finish my comment to you right after this. Thank you for stopping by. I am so happy to have finished writing this post that I have promised Amy I would write for months. I was so inspired by her story and her persistence to have her mother's haiku shared with the world, that I was moved to write. Side note: "toddler stares in wonder" was snapped while I was on a Google Hangout call with my grandbaby. We had only a dusting on LI and Virginia had so much more that I wanted to capture that moment.

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  3. Thank you, Carol, for sharing this treasure. I so appreciate Amy's story behind the publishing of her mother's haiku. I love the letter D haiku --the image the words alone evoke and also how it works with the illustration. Of course, living in the northwest might make me a bit biased concerning rain and rust.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Alice. It is so much fun exchanging comments with PF friends. I am glad that you favor the letter D haiku as I did.

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  4. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and sample poems from Amy and Syd's book. Glad to see the list of well deserved accolades it's received thus far. Nice to hear more from Amy too. The mushroom/umbrella haiku is probably my favorite. :)

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    1. Jama, thanks for offering your comments. I am glad that Amy brought her perspective to the post today so others can see all the work she did to make the book the smash hit that it is today.

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  5. I also had the pleasure of getting to know Amy and her project through a blog post about H is for HAIKU - thanks for continuing to share Syd's/Amy's story and book! The illustrations are so fresh, aren't they? Enjoyed your own creative expressions inspired by the book - thanks for sharing all!

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    1. Robyn, I want to thank you for hosting PF today and penning the intro to my post. I did not expect you to join me too, so I am grateful. I did love Chalabi's illustrations. They were so imaginative.

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  6. We've been enjoying H is for HAIKU in my classroom this year, Carol. Such treasures between the covers. I've added International Haiku Day to my calendar of special days, thanks to you! Be well and warm! -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com

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    1. I would love to see the children's haiku, especially if they write about winter, Christie.

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  7. I love this book and have reviewed it to. Your review is just FULL of great reasons to make sure every young person we love is exposed to haiku and H is for Haiku -- too. Can't say enough good things about this beautiful, beautiful book. The story of how it came to be is just about as beautiful as the text itself. Well done, Carol.

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    1. We all are smitten by this imaginative book. I like the idea of using the alphabet to engage children in haiku, Linda. Can you please send me the link to your review?

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  8. This book is so deserving of all of the accolades it has received.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by Kimberly. I agree with you.

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  9. I've read so much about this book. Since my library has yet to purchase it, I may just have to buy it for myself. I love the two pages you shared, the interview with Amy, and your reminder that haiku can help us find bits of magic in the ordinary. It's one of my favorite forms of poetry. Love the words, mesmerized by snow and the pic of Sierra.

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    1. Ramona, many thanks for joining me here. The book is definitely one to share with our grandchildren and students because of its whimsical way of portraying each A-Z letter in haiku form. I can't wait to share this one with Sierra.

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  10. That third rain haiku and image is wonderful, reminds me of Magritte's painting with umbrellas. Thanks Carol and Amy for sharing this behind the scenes interview about "H is for Haiku," and for all your work Amy that you continue to do promoting the book and haiku!

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    1. I can't wait to see the new work that Amy is undertaking. We may see a combo haiku venture of Losak and Rosenberg. Thanks for stopping by, Michelle.

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  11. Thank you, Carol, for your beautiful column. And thanks to all for your kind comments. I'm so glad you like H IS FOR HAIKU. I could not have seen this project thorough without the support and encouragement of many people. It made all the difference! Have a haiku 2019, filled with bits of magic!

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    1. Amy, H is for Haiku is a magic potion to spread joy. Thank you for the opportunity to spread #haikulove.

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