Guyku by Bob Raczka

Book Jacket

When you're a guy, nature is one big playground--no matter what the season.  There are puddles to splash through 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!  And there's no better author-and-illustrator team to capture all the fun than two guys named Raczka and Reynolds.

Review

Let's get past the fact that this book is about boys, yeah?  Why limit these awesome childhood memories to only half the world's population?  So we're just going to pretend that my kid girl memories are welcome in this boy book.

That said, I loved it!  The haikus flow so easily they don't even seem like haikus.  The emotions that three simple lines evoke are powerfully nostalgic.  I remember climbing trees, skipping rocks, building dams, catching helicopters from maple trees, hiding under snow-laden bush branches.  This book makes me want to run outside and be a kid again, with all the wonder and boundless energy of childhood.

The illustrations that accompany each haiku are fantastic.  The combination of words and pictures form really wonderful stories, my favorite of which is this:

If this puddle could
talk, I think it would tell me
to splash my sister.

Five out of five seasonal adventures.

Release Date: October 2010
Reading Level: Grade K+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: BLUESTEM