Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku
By Paul B. Jaceczko and J. Patrick Lewis
Illustrated by Tricia Tusa

Most enjoyed by poets in 3rd through 8th grade
April is Poetry Month and we haven't reviewed any poetry here on the blog so today we'll fix that. Here's a fun book to read on your own or to inspire you to write your own poem. 'Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku' is a book filled with senryu, a cousin of haiku. Senryu are poems 'of snickers and laughter. Short, punchy, and punny, they take every imaginable subject and make the reader look at life through a circus mirror' (quote from the inside dust jacket blurb). And funny they are. How about this one:

High school band minus
its tuba player - looking
for a substi-toot!

or this one:

My older sister
gets a complete makeover -
very mascary!

See what I mean? These are great read alouds as well as just plain fun to read. The illustrations add almost a comic book fun to the poems. 'Wing Nuts' is screwy in the best way!