Won Ton A Cat Tale Told in Haiku

Bibliography
Wardlaw, Lee. 2011. Won Ton A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Henry Holt and Company: New York. ISBN 978-0-8050-8995-0.

About the book
This series of senryu (similar to haiku, but focuses on human nature - or in this case, nature of an animal - rather than focusing on the natural world) tells a great story of a cat's journey from a shelter to a home with a boy.  Children especially in grades kindergarten through third grades will enjoy both the poems/story and the illustrations.  This nice example of non-rhyming poetry can teach children about syllables and styles of poems. The collection shows that poetry can be fun, free, and still follow traditional structure; for example: "The Car Ride," reads, "Letmeoutletme/ outletmeoutletmeout./ Wait - let me back in!" The expressive artwork, done in graphite-and-gouache, relate to the poetic form's roots and echoes the Japanese traditions.  This book was honored with the Lee Bennett Hopkins 2012 Poetry Award.


One Poem
Your tummy, soft as
warm dough.  I knead and knead, then
bake it with a nap. 


Activities
*Share the poem (or better, the entire book) with the class and talk about cat's behavior and how the poet so clearly describes typical cat actions.  
*Invite a worker from a local animal shelter to talk about how animals are chosen.  Compare the worker's description to the one told through poetry in the book.
*Read other Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award winners and compare how the poets use words, rhyme, meter, and other poetic features to express themselves.