Janeczko Poetry: Wing Nuts

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

Janeczko, Paul B., J. Patrick Lewis, and Tricia Tusa. Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku. New York, NY: Little, Brown, 2006. 9780316607315

Plot Summary

Senryu, a cousin to the well-known haiku, follows the traditional format with a punny twist. With a wide range of subjects, this funny form of haiku can be very diverse. It can talk about hippos that resemble potatoes, tuba players, babysitters, spoiled cats and dogs, the traveling circus, and even grandpa's underwear! No topic is too silly for this delightful twist on an already playful form of poetry.

Analysis

Paul B. Janeczko and J. Patrick Lewis come together for the first time in a haiku collaboration. The haiku that they use is called senryu, which is a variation of haiku that is punny and zany. This format still follows the traditional seventeen syllable format with a silly twist. There is no one subject in this book; Janeczko and Lewis wrote senryus about many different topics including drinking spoiled milk from a carton, pesky mosquitos, a sluggish squirrel trying to cross the road, and cats coughing up hairballs. Even the youngest of readers will recognize the subject of at least one of the poems in this book. Some subjects are multi-layered and will be best understood by older audiences, making this a delightful read for poetry lovers of all ages.

Each poem is lighthearted, high-spirited, and simple to read. They flow easily and with the help of Tricia Tusa's illustrations, they really show their character. Tusa does an excellent job of connecting the poems as well, by showing the same character moving through the pages in pursuit of his big blue ball. Readers can follow this character as he moves from poem to poem until he arrives at the giant poet-tree. There's a witty playfulness throughout this book that really shines through the expressions on Tusa's illustrations' faces. The ink and watercolor illustrations are the perfect compliment to the wacky poems, increasing the punchy impact that each one carries.

Excerpt

    Noah Webster had

    no choice except to put

    the cart before the horse

Connections

Writing a haiku can sometimes be challenging, so it might be a good exercise to clap along to the poems as they are written. This can help children to hear and visualize how the haikus should sound as they are spoken. The children don't even have to have a haiku written; they can try just saying a sentence out loud and counting the syllables until they get to seventeen. Once they say their sentence, have them write it down and put a line break after the first five syllables, then seven, then the last five. It would be fun to see how one sentence can be broken up to take the form of a haiku.

Reviews

Teresa Pfeifer wrote for the School Library Journal saying, "This book fulfills its purpose to revive and invigorate the language, and does so with humor. In her ink-and-watercolor cartoons, Tusa uses a soft palette, strong lines, and abundant white space to define the comical characters. Her artwork is a marvelous vehicle to increase children's visual literacy while complementing these zany and memorable verses. A fun choice to pair with Janeczko's A Kick in the Head."

Pfeifer, Teresa. 2006. “[Wing Nuts].” School Library Journal 52 (5): 112–13. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518504498&site=ehost-live.

Ilene Cooper with Booklist wrote, "Janeczko and Lewis take the concept and turn it into funny, punny pieces that put the play in wordplay . . . Children who get the easier bits of verse may stretch themselves to understand the harder ones, but adult help will still be necessary for many. That's fine, because there's lots of fun to be had."

Cooper, Ilene. 2006. “[Wing Nuts].” Booklist 102 (14): 48. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518501047&site=ehost-live.