Betsy E. Snyder

I think that this book is an excellent introduction into poetry, specifically haikus. I personally have not had a lot of experience with haikus and this inexperience led me to avoid them. After reading this book, I have now read twenty more haikus. This plethora of examples has allowed me to garner an understanding for what makes a haiku, and has increased my appreciation of the poetry itself.
All of the haikus included in the compilation revolve around a central theme of love, but the author includes a large variety of love. Romantic love, love between friends, love for a pet, love for a parent, and even love for s’mores are all topics in the pieces. I think that it would have been a very meaningful book if the author had elected to include love been a heterosexual couple or an atypical family. Not having these included did not detract from the book or the power of the poetry, but I believe that the inclusion would have spoken volumes and made it all the more powerful.
The message of this story is: many types of love can be expressed in many ways.… (mere)

I enjoyed this book because of the writing and the illustrations. The book features all haikus but instead of being separate poems, the author makes sure that there is one story going on throughout the whole book. Because of this the book flows very well and it's easier to understand what each haiku is about since they all share the same theme. The illustrations are another good element. They really help to give context to what would be a very vague haiku. For instance, one haiku is "Little by little I love watching you grow up, each and every inch." That could be a mother talking to their child, or a child talking to their pet, but the picture shows it's a girl watering plants. The big message to the reader is that whoever gave them this book loves them.… (mere)