Games at Haiku.LauraGibbs.net

I've now accumulated a library of 100 haiku books for young readers! My goal is to annotate each book on the list, and I'll try to do a few each day until everything is annotated, hopefully very soon (you'll see "need to do" next to the books not yet annotated).
Latest update: just 16 more annotations to add!
And if you have additional suggestions, please let me know: laurakgibbs@gmail.com.

Recommended books are highlighted in yellow.

Approximately one third of these books are also available for borrowing from the Internet Archive, just a click away; those links are marked in purple. That's a great way to take a look at a book to see if you want to buy your own copy, and then you can use Bookfinder.com to look for the cheapest used copies. The used market for children's books is a delight; most parents dispose of their children's books sooner or later... and those used books need new homes!

I'll be using the phrase "5-7-5 formula verse" to refer to books that contain syllable-counting poetry that are not really haiku. While the English-language haiku tradition has pretty much dispensed with this 5-7-5 type of writing, syllable counting remains popular in children's books, understandably so. The main reason I created this resource page was to help people see which books are real haiku books and which books are 5-7-5 formula poetry. If you are going to make haiku cards to play a haiku game with children, you should use the books that contain real haiku! At the same time, some of the 5-7-5 formula books can be fun reading and informative in other ways. The key is just to have a specific purpose in mind and to choose the books that will work best for that purpose. I hope the information provided here will help you find the right books for you and your young readers!

Illustrated Haiku Books: Japanese Poets

Stories Told about Japanese Haiku Poets

More Illustrated Haiku Books

More Illustrated Haiku Books: Animals

Stories Told with Haiku

Sciku, Riddles, Concept Books, etc.

How-To-Write Haiku for Young Writers

Haiku Activity Books

Illustrated Haiku Books (not specifically for children)

Illustrated Haiku Books: Japanese Poets

Cassedy, Sylvia and Kunihiro Suetake, with illustrations by Vo-Dinh. Birds, Frogs, and Moonlight [Internet Archive]. This is a truly lovely book of classical Japanese haiku by a wide range of authors, beautifully illustrated and with the Japanese text on each page, together with the English, both in Japanese calligraphy and romaji. Highly recommended.
Demi, illustrator, with translations by Tze-Si Huang. In the Eyes of the Cat: Japanese Poetry for All Seasons [Internet Archive]. Demi is one of my favorite children's book authors and illustrators, and the art in this book is wonderfully bright and vivid, full of details for young readers to notice. The poems are also great for young readers, although the translations from classical Japanese haiku by Tze-Si Huang (Demi's husband) are not always my favorites; some sound just great, while others are in a 4-line form that just seems off somehow, and a few are rhymed couplets; I am really not a fan of rhymed haiku. But that's just me; of course young readers will not be troubled, simply enjoying the beauty of both the poems and the art. Recommended.
Karas, G. Brian, illustator. Today and Today: Haiku by Issa [Internet Archive]. This is a children's book about the day-to-day life of a family over the four seasons of a year, as told through Issa's haiku. The pictures tell a story of their own, accompanied by very nicely chosen haiku from Issa. Highly recommended.
Lewis, Richard, with illustrations by Jack Ezra Keats. In a Spring Garden [Internet Archive]. I cannot say enough good things about this book! Lewis chose the poetry very thoughtfully, including lots of Issa of course (animals!), but other poets as well and as you would expect from Keats (remember The Snowy Day?), the art is gorgeous. Highly HIGHLY recommended.
Nishimoto, Keisuke, with illustrations by Kozo Shimizu. Haiku Picturebook for Children [Internet Archive]. This is another of my very favorite haiku books for children. It consists of famous haiku by the classic haiku poets and two modern haiku poets, with child-friendly translations, along with an explanatory comment about each poem, plus the Japanese text and an easy to sound-out romanization. If young readers are going to learn the 5-7-5 approach to haiku, they can use this book in order to appreciate the 5-7-5 tradition of haiku in Japanese. The illustrations are also wonderful. Highly HIGHLY recommended.
Ramirez-Christensen, Esperanza, with illustrations by Tracy Gallup. My First Book of Haiku Poems. You can find out more in this blog post; of all the haiku books for children, this one is my #1 top recommendation. I absolutely love this book and have given it to children and to adults as well. It's beautifully done in every way: the poems, the translations, the layout, and especially the gorgeous art by Tracy Gallup. Ramirez-Christensen is a major literary scholar, and I think it is just wonderful that she has written this fabulous book for children too. Highly HIGHLY recommended.
And see also: My First Book of Zen, written and illustrated by Tracy Gallup which also features some haiku poetry.
Reibstein, Mark with illustrations by Ed Young. Wabi Sabi. This is a story with haiku by Basho and Shiki interwoven throughout (including the Japanese text), and it is simply one of the most beautiful children's books I have ever seen... but that is no surprise: Ed Young was one of the great children's book illustrators (he died just a few years ago, in 2023). This is the story of a cat named Wabi Sabi who wants to find out what "wabi sabi" means. So, she goes on a journey that takes her far from home but then brings her back again. It's simply marvelous! Highly HIGHLY recommended.
And see Yugen below in the "Haiku Stories" section, another beautiful collaboration between Reibstein and Young.
Shannon, George, with illustrations by Malcah Zeldis. Spring: A Haiku Story [Internet Archive]. This is a selection of haiku from Japanese poets, illustrated with fanciful, colorful drawings. I personally prefer Lewis and Keats' In a Spring Garden (see above), but this book makes an excellent companion piece to that one. It would be a fun adventure to read both of these books together with a young reader, helping them to compare and contrast the books so that readers can decide for themselves which one they like best. Recommended.
Stubis, Talivaldis, illustrator. Don't Tell the Scarecrow and Other Japanese Poems [Internet Archive]. Another wonderful book of Japanese haiku in English with beautiful illustrations done in a very distinctive style, with the animals vividly shown while also weaving children into much of the art as well. Absolutely delightful! Highly recommended.

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Stories Told about Japanese Haiku Poets

Spivak, Dawnine, with illustrations by Demi. Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho [Internet Archive]. I was so excited to find this book because Demi is one of my favorite children's book authors and illustrators. Together Spivak and Demi have created a lovely introduction to Basho's life and his poetry. The book tells the story (in prose) of Basho's travels while including haiku on every page. There are also some Japanese kanji included, chosen for their pictographic quality, like 馬 uma, "horse." As you would expect from Demi, the illustrations are beautiful. Highly recommended.
See the "Japanese Haiku" section above for another book by Spivak and Demi.
Fukuda, Hanako, with illustrations by Lydia Cooley, Wind in My Hand [Internet Archive]. This is a book for young readers, not a picturebook for children (for that, see Cool Melons below). It tells the story of Issa's life story (in part as told by Issa himself) along with selections from Issa's poetry, plus some lovely illustrations. The book does not interpret the haiku, but simply sets them in the context of Issa's own experience, which is something we are so fortunate to be able to do, thanks to issa's own writings. Highly recommended.
(I wish we had a book like this for Basho, not a picture-book, but instead a basic book like this one, intended for, say, junior-high age readers. And maybe Santoka too: any of the great haiku writers whose biography provides a profound context for their work.)
Gollub, Matthew, with illustrations by Kazuko Stone, Cool Melons–Turn to Frogs! The Life and Poems of Issa [Internet Archive]. This is a beautiful children's book that tells the story of Issa's life in very simple terms, accompanied by haiku. Be sure to read the note at the back of the book about the creation process the author and illustrator used! Highly recommended.
Myers, Tim, with illustrations by Oki Han. Basho and the Fox [Internet Archive]. This book features only a few haiku, and it is not really about Basho exactly, but it is a very sweet introduction to Japanese folktale traditions: this is a faux-folktale about Basho and kitsune, the magical shape-shifting foxes of Japanese legend. Basho did write 3 haiku featuring foxes, all of them "spooky" kitsune, including one poem about a fox and a melon, but he did not write any poems about foxes and cherries, the fruit in dispute in this storybook: Basho must write a haiku good enough to impress the foxes who have been eating the cherries from his cherry tree. There's a sequel too; see the next entry.
Myers, Tim, with illustrations by Oki Han. Basho and the River Stones. [Internet Archive]. In this sequel to Basho and the Fox, Myers has again created a faux folktale about Basho and a magical fox, kitsune. I actually like this one better than the first book: you can see classic kitsune transformations in play here! There's a little bit of haiku, but the point is really the upbeat message that Basho learns from his encounter with the kitsune and also what the kitsune learns in turn. (Myers has also written a book about another famous figure from Japanese folklore, the magical tanuki, or raccoon-dog: The Tanuki's Gift, which you can read at the Internet Archive.)
Ng, Freeman, with illustrations by Cassandra Rockwood Ghanem. Basho's Haiku Journeys. I will confess to being really torn about this book: some parts of it are just wonderful, while other parts not so much. I wish the author had reserved the haiku form for real haiku poetry; the poems here that are directly inspired by Basho's own poetry work really well (like Basho's horse eating the flower beside the road), and the author has done a great job of situating those poems along Basho's journeys, with maps included too. That's all great! But instead of just using prose to tell us about Basho's life to put the journeys in context, he has used 5-7-5 formula verse. Basho himself wrote haibun, blending prose and verse; I wish the author here had done the same here. That's why I would recommend Spivak's Grass Sandals book as the better choice for Basho's travels; see above.

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More Illustrated Haiku Books

Chaikin, Miriam, with illustrations by Hiroe Nakata. Don’t Step on the Sky: A Handful of Haiku [Internet Archive]. This is a beautiful little book with delightful illustrations. I am especially pleased to say that the author explains that haiku can have fewer than 17 syllables in English, or that it might be written in just one line, or two, or four, not just three: "However many lines or syllables, the aim of haiku remains the same: to capture a moving experience in a few words." And that is what the author has done! Recommended
Cleary, Brian, with illustrations by Andy Rowland. If It Rains Pancakes: Haiku and Lantern Poems [Internet Archive]. This is a book of fun 5-7-5 formula poems that are mostly humorous, sometimes thoughtful, with very lively illustrations. The book also includes "lanterne" poems which are a form of syllable-counting cinquain poetry. While cinquain poetry was inspired, in part, by Japanese tanka, the lanterne is not a Japanese poetic form, despite what the author says. So, keep that in mind: this might be a fun book for inspiring young people to write syllable-counting poetry, but it is not really useful for teaching about haiku tradition.
Farrar, Sid with illustrations by Ilse Plume. The Year Comes Round: Haiku Through the Seasons [Internet Archive]. Yes, these are 5-7-5 poems, but they are very nicely done, and the pairing of the seasonal poems and the season illustrations is just wonderful, So, while I am not a big fan of 5-7-5 haiku myself, this is a fine book, especially if you are working with young writers who have embraced 5-7-5 and want to up their game!
Greenwood, Dan. Whispers of Spring ~ Summer's Symphony ~ Autumn Whispers ~ Winter's Whisper. The books' titles are uninspired and the same is true of the haiku poetry they contain, which sound like AI haiku. In other words: not good. Some very young children might find the colorful illustrations fun to look at, but I cannot recommend these books.
Grimes, Nikki, with illustrations by Javaka Steptoe. A Pocketful of Poems [Internet Archive]. I love how this book is designed! The author has paired up free-verse poetry with haiku that work with similar material but going in a different direction, with the haiku hiding in the beautiful collage art by Javaka Steptoe that illustrates each pair of poems. So make sure to look for the haiku! Recommended.
Holmer, Anders, with illustrators by the author. Rain. This is a lovely book: the haiku are highly original and whimsical, sometimes humorous, and the illustrations by the author are beautiful, dancing on the edge of reality and the surreal. Definitely a book where you will want to pay attention, looking for clues in the images to better understand the haiku poetry and vice versa. Recommended.
Janeczko, Paul, with photographs by Henri Silberman. Stone Bench in an Empty Park [Internet Archive]. This is a lovely experiment in "urban" haiku. Janeczko has has carefully selected haiku with urban themes from both contemporary English-language haiku poets and classical Japanese poets, with Henri Silberman providing wonderful black-and-white photographs to accompany the poems. Recommended.
See the "Concept Books" section below for another Janeczko book, and also be sure to see his excellent guides to writing haiku in the "How-to-Haiku" section below.
Michailidi, Stefanis. A Sunny Morning - Haiku Alphabet Book. (need to do)
Nakagaki, Mayumi. Haikus for Little Monsters ~ Haikus for Cute Dragons ~ Haikus for Roaring Dinosaurs - Haikus for Adorable Princesses. I'm personally not a fan of rhyming haiku, and the rhymes in these haiku are not very good. There's much better rhyming poetry for young readers to read instead! Not recommended.
Patel-Sage, Krina, with illustrations by the author. Watch Me Bloom: A Bouquet of Haiku Poems for Budding Naturalists. I was not sure where to put this book, because it could also go in the sciku section (in the back it has great scientific and cultural information about all the flowers), but I decided to put it here with the haiku book instead because it is more than just 5-7-5 formula verse; mixed in with the more perfunctory 5-7-5 poems are som really nice haiku. For example, this poem about azaleas: fiery petals / in lucky red; dragon flames / from granny's childhood. And in the illustration you really can see a dragon in the azalea blooms, and grandma too. Recommended.
For books that take a similar approach to different species of birds and breeds of cats and dogs, see Michael Rosen's books below in the "Haiku Animals" section.
Raczka, Bob, with illustrations by Peter Reynolds. Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys [Internet Archive]. If you know Peter Reynolds' justifiably famous book The Dot, you will recognize his artwork right away, and Raczka's book is very much in that same spirit, hoping to inspire boys to play and have fun, including fun with poetry. The poems are 5-7-5 and not really haiku-like, but they are undeniably charming. For example: "If this puddle could / talk, I think it would tell me / to splash my sister," illustrated with a little boy and a girl in the rain; the girl and her umbrella are reflected in a very large and tempting puddle. As Raczka says at the end, "every haiku is about something I did as a boy," Which I suppose means having splashed his sister!
Rosenberg, Sydell, with illustrations by Sawsan Chalabi. H is For Haiku: A Treasury of Haiku From A to Z. Okay, maybe I should have put this down in the "Concept" section because it really is an A-Z book... but the poetry is just too good: I love this book! Plus it's another "urban" haiku book (see the books by Grimes and by Janeczko also in this section), which I think are so important for American readers who often find themselves in urban landscapes where nature takes on a different role (I myself am a city-dweller who treasures each glimpse of the natural world I can find in my concrete surroundings). Another brilliant thing about this book is the graphic design used for the text of the poems: the colors and shapes of all the letters, the integration of the text design with the illustration, it's all absolutely brilliant work by Sawsan Chalabi. So kudos to both the author and the illustrator: this is a fabulous book. Highly HIGHLY recommended.
Santaeulàlia, Josep, with illustrations by Luciano Lozano. Time for Haiku: Four Seasons of Haiku. This is 5-7-5 haiku, but it really is haiku! You will find some lovely poems here, organized by the seasons. There is also a very nice two-page spread in the back of the book teaching about haiku, and it shows just why the poems in this book succeed; the author explains that haiku is "bare poetry, stripped of obstacles," "poetry of the senses," etc. So, especially if you are working with young writers who are committed to the 5-7-5 form in English, this is another one of those books that can help them up their game. Recommended.
Smith, Danna. Peek-A-Boo Haiku. (need to do)
Snyder, Betsy, with illustrations by the author. Haiku Baby. This is a board book for very very young readers, with six haiku on tabbed pages so that tiny hands can turn the pages on their own. The illustrations are very colorful with fun details to talk about, with a good match between the illustrations and the contents of each poem which feature rain, flowers, sun, leaves, snow and moon. Even though the poems are not about animals, there are actually animals on every page, including a hippo on a snowy mountaintop; go figure! One admittedly odd feature of this book is that next to each title you see the Japanese kanji, and I'm really not sure what people are supposed to make of the kanji without a little help.
Snyder, Betsy, with illustrations by the author. Haiku Night. Like Snyder's Haiku Baby (see previous entry), this is a board book with tabbed pages for tiny hands. Again, the illustrations are very colorful with fun details to talk about, with a good match between the illustrations and the contents of each poem. There are five poems about animals and what they do at night, plus one poem about a star. Again, there are Japanese kanji provided without explanation, which seems to me like an opportunity lost. For example, the European raccoon (one of the animals included) is 洗熊, arai kuma, "wash bear," so named for washing its food (something the native Japanese tanuki does not do!), but the book does not explain this anywhere.
Snyder, Betsy, with illustrations by the author. I Haiku You. See the two previous entries for Snyder's board books; this is a book for very young readers, and theme of each little poem is love and gratitude. The poems are 5-7-5 formula poems, not really haiku, but the writing is very sweet and the illustrations are charming. If you are looking for a feel-good book for to read together with a very young reader, this is a good choice. (But not really for learning about haiku.)
Wright, Richard, with photo collages by Nina Crews. Seeing Into Tomorrow: Haiku. (need to do) (Richard Wright's involvement with haiku towards the end of his life is a beautiful story in and of itself; see the very lovely introduction by Julia Wright to Haiku: The Last Poems of an American Icon.)

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More Illustrated Haiku Books: Animals

Coleman, Jamie, illustrated with dog photographs. What I Lick Before Your Face, and Other Haikus by Dogs. Yes, these are 5-7-5 formula verse, but because they are told in 1st-person style from the point of view of the dog, they take on an empathetic quality that you often find in Issa's poetry, even if they are not really haiku. And honestly, I had to laugh out loud at this one which riffs on the haiku-esque plums-in-the-icebox poem by William Carlos Williams: "That paper you keep / in a roll, next to the seat / I fixed that for you," accompanied by a picture of a Dobermann surrounded by unrolled toilet paper. (Why hasn't someone done a book like this with cats???)
Haley, Jody. Guess Who in the Woods. (need to do)
Lee, Nolen. The Panda is Fat: And Other Panda Haikus. (need to do)
Lee, Nolen. The Panda is Still Fat. (need to do)
Lewis, J. Patrick, with illustrations by Chris Manson. Black Swan White Crow [Internet Archive]. Not all the haiku here are about animals, but enough of them are that I decided to put the book in this section. The poetry is great, and so are the woodcuts; all so well done! The author also provides some very welcome and helpful comments in the introduction about how the difference between the 17 syllables of Japanese haiku and the syllable count in English haiku: "the 17 syllables of Japanese is roughly equal to 12, some say 9, syllables in English" (SO TRUE: I really want to write a paper about syllable-counting to add to this website in order to explore this important topic). But more importantly: Lewis is not a syllable-counter anyway: he just writes what he sees, senses, feels, and the poems are lovely. As a writer, I had to smile at this one: "Frantic sandpiper — high tides erasing / her footnotes," and in the accompanying woodcut we don't actually see the sandpiper, just her tracks... and the water advancing. Highly recommended.
And for a quite different book by this same author, see his fun collaboration with Paul Janeczko in the "Riddles and Puns" section below.
Muth, Jon, with illustrations by the author. Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons. Take a look at the blog post for this book which contains a YouTube interview with the author, who happens to be one of my all-time favorite children's authors. He has written about Zen for kids in a beautiful book series: Zen Happiness, Zen Ghosts, Zen Shorts, Zen Ties, and Zen Socks, all featuring Koo the pandu, and Koo also appears in Stillwater and Koo Save the World. In addition to being a seasonal haiku book, Muth has woven the English alphabet into the poems: the first haiku features something that starts with A, then the next poem features B, etc. So, it's not exactly an alphabet book (which is why i did not put it down in the "Concept" section), but young readers can enjoy some alphabet-letter fun, in addition to the lovely poems and artwork. Highly recommended.
Rosen, Michael, with illustrations by Stan Fellows. The Cuckoo's Haiku [Internet Archive]
Rosen, Michael, with illustrations by Mary Azarian. The Hound Dog's Haiku [Internet Archive]
Rosen, Michael, with illustrations by Lee White. The Maine Coon Haiku.
These three books by Michael J. Rosen (not Michael W. Rosen, the British children's author) form a very nice series which I was tempted to put into the sciku section, but the focus is more on the poetry, so I have put them here instead. Each book contains haiku written to celebrate different species and breeds of birds, dogs, and cats, with notes in the back of the book telling you about each of the species/breeds included in the book. So, not only are these lovely books for young readers to read, they are also a way to learn about all kinds of different species of birds and breeds of dogs and cats. Of the three, my favorite is The Cuckoo's Haiku because of the gorgeous illustrations, but all three books are good! Recommended.
And for more from Rosen and Fellows, see the following item.
Rosen, Michael, with illustrations by Stan Fellows. The Horse’s Haiku. Instead of being organized around different breeds of horses (like the cat and dog books above), this book is organized around horse activities: grazing, back at the barn, riding. Stan Fellows' artwork is beautiful, and I am sure that anyone who loves horses would love this book.

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Stories Told with Haiku

Clements, Andrew, with illustrations by Tim Bowers. Dogku. This is the story of a dog finding a new home as told in 5-7-5 formula verse. The dog is adorable, especially when he gets into trouble.
Gianferrari, Maria, with illustrations by Jonathan Voss. Whoo-Ku Haiku: A Great Horned Owl Story. This is a story told all in 5-7-5 formula verse so it really doesn't have anything to do with real haiku exactly, but it is a wonderful story about a family of owls, very vivid and realistic, and the art is gorgeous. Watch out for the red fox! I cannot recommend this as a book about haiku, but it is a great book about owls, so if you know a young reader who loves owls, you'll want to get this book! (I was also tempted to put it in the sciku section because of the informational value, but since it is first and foremost a story about the owls, I put it here.)
Hisakuni, Sandra, with illustrations by Sofia Hisakuni. The Northland Beckons: An Illustrated Haiku Journey. What a wonderful book! This is a true journey set in northern Minnesota and Canada, with haiku written along the way. The pairing of prose and verse is perfect, very much in the haibun tradition, plus gorgeous illustrations also (by the author's daughter!). Yes, it's 5-7-5 poetry, but it works as true haiku, evoking a sense of place and life in that place with every poem. And I love the way the author includes her favorite Basho poem in the back of the book when she discusses haiku. (Are you curious which one is her favorite? The one about the crickets and the rocks! shizukasa ya iwa ni shimi-iru semi no koe ... one of my favorites too!) Highly HIGHLY recommended.
And check out the author's website for lesson plans and more information!
(As it happens, my used copy of this book is signed by the author; how nice to have a book in my hands that passed through her hands also! One of the joys of buying used books: sometimes they are signed and/or have the name of a previous owner inside. Connections!)
Kakugawa, Frances. Wordsworth the Haiku Teacher. (need to do)
Manley, Curtis, with illustrations by Jennifer Mann. Climbing the Volcano: A Journey in Haiku. The entire story of climbing the mountain in told in haiku, and YES: the haiku still really do work as haiku! In the back of the book, Manley provides important information about safe and responsible hiking, and he also provides a great description of what haiku poetry is all about; this is not just 5-7-5 formula verse. You will find some lovely haiku poetry here, and very nice illustrations as well. Highly recommended.
McClements, George, with illustrations by the author. Haiku Kaiju Ah-Choo! The story is told in 5-7-5 formula poems, and it's a comical adventure about a kai-ju, a "mysterious-beast," as in movie monsters like Godzilla. The hero is a little boy, and this book might indeed appeal to little boys with an interest in cryptozoology. As the author explains in his bio, he has had a lifelong interest in Bigfoot and other cryptids, which is how he came to write this book: he is into the kaiju, not haiku, and he chose the 5-7-5 storytelling style to match the kaiji's cultural origins.
Reibstein, Mark, with illustratons by Ed Young. Yugen. This is a very sweet mother-and-child story told in "American Sentences," the 17-syllable single sentence prose poem invented by Allen Ginsberg who was inspired by the haiku tradition. The art is breath-taking, and in a very different style than the one Young used in the other haiku book they wrote together: the truly astounding Wabi Sabi (see the "Japanese Poetry" section above). Recommended.
Wardlaw, Lee, with illustrations by Eugene Yelchin. Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. The story is told in 5-7-5 formula poems which are not really haiku, but it is a very charming story which begins with the cat being adopted from an animal shelter and settling into a new home. The illustrations are wonderful, and you could pair this book up with some real haiku about cats: cats are very much a part of the Japanese haiku tradition. See Wilson's Japanese Haiku for Cat Lovers and Kusch's Cats in Spring Rain in the "Illustrated Haiku" books section below. There's also a sequel about Won Ton; see the next entry.
Wardlaw, Lee, with illustrations by Eugene Yelchin. Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku. As in the first Won Ton book, this is a story told with 5-7-5 formula poems, not really haiku, but it is very cute: just when Won Ton has settled in, the family adopts a little puppy. Things do not go well at first but of course the cat and the puppy become friends after all.
Whelan, Gloria, with illustrations by Yan Nascimbene. Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers [Internet Archive]. What a lovely book! Instead of trying to tell the whole story in verse, the story is told in prose but with haiku on every page. And why? Because when Yuki leaves with her mother on the long journey from Kyoto to Edo to see her father, a powerful and wealthy government official, her teacher tells her to write haiku every day. So, we get to learn all about Yuki's journey while we also get to read her haiku. And we get to enjoy the gorgeous illustrations too! Highly recommended.

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Sciku, Riddles, Puns, and other "concept" books

These are (mostly) 5-7-5 formula books that do not really belong to the haiku tradition but which can be a fun for young readers:

Bishop, Rene, with illustrations by the author. Haiku for Kids. I wasn't really sure where to put this book: it consists of poems that the author (who is now a homeschooling mother herself) wrote and illustrated when she was in fourth grade. It is available as a very inexpensive Kindle, so, if you do not have a fourth-grader in your house to help you gauge just what might happen when a fourth-grader writes and illustrates haiku, you can get a sense of that from this book.
Brunelle, Lynn, with illustrations by Julia Patton, Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature. This is a great example of 5-7-5 formula poetry put to good use, paired with informational materials about flamingo poop, whale farts, etc. It's educational sciku, and it is a lot of fun too!
Caswell, Deanna, with illustrations by Bob Shea. Guess Who Haiku [Internet Archive]. This is a charming little book! The riddles are 5-7-5 formula verse, and they are also interwoven, so the first riddle has "cow" as the answer, and then the cow asks the next riddle, to which the answer is "bee," so the bee asks the next riddle, and so on. There's nothing especially haiku-like about the poems, but it's a fun way for young readers to enjoy syllable-counting poetry... and riddles! For a sequel, see the next entry.
Caswell, Deanna, with illustrations by Bob Shea, Boo! Haiku [Internet Archive]. This is a sequel to Caswell and Shea's Guess Who Haiku (see previous entry). This time all the riddles are Halloween-themed, and the book has the same design: it starts with a riddle to which the answer is witch, then the witch asks a riddle to which the answer is bat, who then asks another riddle, and so on. Again, not really haiku, but the 5-7-5 formula is a fun way to pose riddles (many traditional English riddles were written in verse in fact), and it might even inspire young writers to create their own riddle poems.
For more "riddle-ku" like this, see the books by Prelutsky and Salas below.
Clark, Frank, with illustrations by Daria Ponomarenko. Positively Haiku. This book takes 5-7-5 formula writing to the extreme: there is nothing that even remotely resembles haiku here. Instead, the poems are 3 affirmations strung together, written to fit the 5-7-5 formula. For example: "I will harvest hope. I will see humanity. I will respect self," while the illustration shows a gardener, echoing the word "harvest." There is also a follow-up volume, Positively Haiku Two. Given the formulaic composition of the verses, it would be possible to publish an infinite number of such books. I just wish we had a name for 5-7-5 writing like this without using the word haiku. And who knows? Perhaps this formulaic approach makes the affirmations more affirmative; if that's the case, more power to them, but I cannot recommend this book.
Doodle, Ramon. Guess Who Haiku in 3 volumes: Cryptids, Lovecraftian Horrors, and Philosophers. (need to do)
Fourgerel, Jacquelyn Jaie. Butterfly Haiku. (need to do)
Janeczko, Paul and J. Patrick Lewis, with illustrations by Tricia Tusa. Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku [Internet Archive]. These are fun 5-7-5 formula poems that feature some kind of pun or joke; for example: "High school band minus / its tuba player — looking for a substi-toot!" The illustrations are hilarious, and the puns and jokes are pretty good too. There's not a lot to be learned about haiku here, but it's a delightful way to introduce young readers to the power of puns.
Meanwhile, Janeczko has also done serious haiku work, including a beautiful book of urban haiku that you can find in the "illustrated Haiku" section above, and his books about writing haiku are excellent; see the "How-to-Haiku" section below.
Mannis, Celeste, with illustrations by Susan Hartung. One Leaf Rides the Wind [Internet Archive]. I love this book! You might not guess from the title, but it is actually a counting book, starting out with one leaf and ending with ten lanterns. The art is breathtaking, and the haiku are very good; yes, they are 5-7-5 but they are haiku poetry, not just formula verse. Here's the first one: "one leaf rides the wind — quick as I am, it's quicker! just beyond my grasp." There are also cultural notes at the bottom of each page, and the art is beautiful. Highly HIGHLY recommended.
Mora, Pat, with illustrations by Rafael Lopez. Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! Americas' Sproutings [Internet Archive (Spanish-language edition)]. This book is a perfect example of how a 5-7-5 formula verse book can be a wonderful way for children both to learn new things and also to encounter what they are learning in the form of poetry. Each two-page spread features a kind of food with an educational paragraph on one page (very informative!) with a fun 5-7-5 poem on the facing page, plus vivid, exciting artwork. Surely young readers will want to try writing some food poetry of their own after reading this book! Recommended,
Also, I want to give a shout-out to Lee and Low Publishers for their other children's poetry books; they are consistently excellent. For another haiku book from Lee and Low, see Gollub's Cool Melons above in the "Japanese Haiku Poets" section above.
Patel, Krina. My Mindful A to Zen: Well-Being Haiku. (need to do)
Prelutsky, Jack, with illustrations by Ted Rand. If Not for the Cat [Internet Archive]. Each of the animal haiku poems is told in first-person by the animal, with some very nice writing. The illustrations make it clear who each animal is, although the name of the animal does not actually appear: yes, it's a riddle book, and there is a key to the animals in the back, just in case. Try reading the poems out loud without showing the picture and see if your co-reader can guess! Then show the picture: they'll be able to figure it out easily with the picture... but not so easily with just the words. Recommended.
Salas, Laurie. Riddle-Ku. (need to do)
Salas, Laura, with illustrations by Mercè López . Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons. This is a book of riddle haiku, or what Salas calls riddle-ku (see previous entry for more about that). These 5-7-5- formula poems are organized by seasons, but each of the season poems is a first-person riddle, often about inanimate objects (kite in spring, sandcastle in summer, etc.) but also animals (squirrel in fall, bear in winter, etc.). The illustrations make it pretty easy to guess the answer, but the answer is not so easy to guess if you are not looking at the illustrations. There's an answer key in the back just in case you are not sure! Recommended.
For a similar book of riddles, see Prelutsky's If Not for the Cat above.
Tamm, Eva, with illustrations by Marjolihn Groustra. The Hidden World of Trolls ~ More from the Hidden World of Trolls. These two books both started with the troll illustrations, and then the artist asked Eva Tamm to add text, who decided to use haiku. The result is really delightful; these are 5-7-5 formuls poems which don't really work as stand-alone poems, but they are a delightful addition to the artwork.
Walker, Sally, with illustrations by William Grill, Earth Verse: Haiku from the Ground Up.
Walker, Sally, with illustrations by Matthew Trueman, Out of This World: Star-Studded Haiku.
Walker, Sally, with illustrations by Angela Mckay, Trees: Haiku from Roots to Leaves.
I've written up a blog post about these three books, which are great reading for children, nicely illustrated. My favorite is the one about the trees, probably because I like Angela Mckay's illustrations the best; they are so vivid and colorful. Recommended.
You can find out more about sciku here: The Sciku Project.
Yolen, Jane, illustrated with photographs by Jason Stemple. Least Things: Poems About Small Natures. This is a very sweet sciku book about tiny creatures. Each two-page spread consists of a large, very nice photograph with a 5-7-5 poem on one side and an information paragraph on the other side, plus the animal's name in very large font. With the big fonts and detailed photographs, this is a nice choice for very young readers. Jane Yolen is a prolific writer of children's books, and she has written some great rhyming poetry books too, like Sleep Rhymes Around the World and Street Rhymes Around the World.

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How-To-Write Haiku for Young Writers

Bodden, Valeri. Poetry Basics: Haiku [Internet Archive]. (need to do)
Donegan, Patricia. Haiku: Learn to Express Yourself by Writing Poetry in the Japanese Tradition [Internet Archive]. Patricia Donegan was an important haiku poet and scholar, and this is definitely the best book for teaching young writers about haiku in the context of traditional Japanese poetry. Donegan has chosen the poetry for this book very thoughtfully, and the "how-to" section consists of what she calls the seven keys to writing haiku, with examples from Japanese poets for each of the keys: form, image, season, here and now, feeling, surprise, and compassion. (As you can see, Donegan's features echo the kinds of features I have emphasized in the Haiku Basics game here at this site!) She also provides some wonderful exercises which involve completing a haiku by filling in a missing line, along with a series of "haiku projects," including a haibun diary, haiga (drawing plus haiku), and linked verse. IMO this is by far the best of the how-to haiku books for young writers. Highly HIGHLY recommended.
Holewa, Lisa. Life in Numbers: Write Haiku. This book surprised me! From the title, "Life in Numbers," I thought it would be a guide to 5-7-5 formula verse, nothing to do with haiku, but just the opposite. Even though it is a tiny book, just 28 pages long (and, the back cover tells me, 771 words, 2nd-grade reading level), it does a really nice job of teaching about haiku poetry! It starts with patterns in nature, then shifts to patterns in poetry, emphasizing the importance of nature for haiku poetry and the "one-breath rule" rather than counting syllables. It then has a step by step process for writing and sharing haiku. So, this is a very nice little book, and just goes to show: don't judge a book by its cover, or its title! I almost skipped this one thinking it would be a formula book, but it turned out to be one of my favorite how-to-haiku books for very young writers. Kudos to Lisa Holewa for doing such a good job! Highly recommended.
Janeczko, Paul. How to Write Haiku and Other Short Poems [Internet Archive]. Janeczko is a prolific author of poetry books for young readers (see above for some of his haiku books), and he does a very good job of teaching about haiku here. Haiku, senryu, and tanka take up the first 90 pages of the book, and the remaining 30 pages are taken up with other short forms (synonym poems, limericks, clerihews) plus some really nice ideas for how to share your poetry, like making accordion books, poetry crackers, etc. Because it is not illustrated, this is a book best for tweens and older, and it is also a great reference for teachers, who could certainly adapt Janeczko's ideas and tips for much younger writers. Highly recommended.
Also highly recommended: Janeczko's Teaching 10 Fabulous Forms of Poetry [Internet Archive], which includes haiku, senryu, and tanka, along with acrostics, cinquains, clerihews, limericks, blues poems, ballads, concrete poems, and found poems.
See also Janeczko's poetry books in the "Illustrated Haiku " section above.
Karlins, Mark, with illustrations by Nicole Wong. Kiyoshi's Walk. This is a not really a how-to book in the traditional sense, but it is actually a brilliant way to introduce students to how haiku "happens." It opens with little Kiyoshi watching his grandfather writing out a haiku poem in Japanese calligraphy. He wants to know where poems come from... so his grandfather takes him on a walk! That's how Kiyoshi learns to write haiku from seeing things, from hearing things, from imagination, and from feelings. There is an afterword with some information about haiku and the haiku tradition. Highly recommended.
Macken, JoAnn. Read, Recite, and Write Haiku [Internet Archive]. I am a huge fan of all the books in Joann Macken's Read, Recite, and Write series, including her haiku book. Find out more at this blog post. Macken has a very clear and consistent way of laying out all the books in this series, so if you decide you like this haiku book, I would encourage you to explore all the other poetry books in the series! Highly recommended.
Massey, Juliana. Can You Haiku? [Internet Archive] (need to do)
Rivera, V. A. Kids Read and Write Japanese Haiku Poetry. This is a book about 5-7-5 formula verse; it's not really a book about Japanese haiku poetry, despite the title... although it does have one writing idea which I really like: haiku lullaby. The same author also has a syllable-counting "tanka" book, and she definitely has a passionate enthusiasm for children's poetry, but just speaking for myself, I would prefer to see haiku taught with at least some attention to the Japanese tradition, not just syllable-counting. I cannot recommend this book.
Rosenstock, Gabriel. Fluttering Their Way into My Head. (need to do)
Smith, Danna. How Do You Haiku? This guide to writing haiku is full of great ideas, and would actually work for both young writers and adults, although it is written with young writers in mind. There is an excellent selection of haiku throughout, and Smith covers many important features of haiku poetry and haiku tradition. My one quibble is this: Smith emphasizes 5-7-5 syllable-counting in English, even going so far as to tell writers to add words to their shorter lines to bring them up to a full 5-7-5 ... while I would urge just the opposite: if young writers are going to write in 5-7-5 form, they should then weigh each word, one by one, seeing if there are not some words they can leave out. Recommended.
Tennakoon, Udaya. Imagination in Three Lines. (need to do)

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Haiku Activity Books

British Museum. Origami and Haiku inspired by Japanese Artwork. This is a wonderful book, and I wish there were more like it; combining origami and haiku is such a great idea! I've written a blog post about the book with screenshots of how the art, origami, and haiku are presented. Highly recommended.
Of course, you can also create your own haiku plus origami experience! Just collect haiku you like best, perhaps focusing on the recommended "Japanese haiku books" section above, and then get some origami books to find the animals and/or plants that you need. The great Tuttle Publishing house has lots of origami books, for example, and I cannot say enough good things about Tuttle Publishing!
D'Amato, Anthony. Haiku for You, with accompanying activity / coloring workbook. This book and workbook are indeed for very very young readers, although the poems are not really haiku; instead, this is 5-7-5 formula verse. The workbook focuses on learning shapes and colors, although it does have some nice syllable-counting worksheets. The main character throughout is a penguin, so if you know a young reader who is into penguins, they might enjoy this book/workbook combo, but mostly for the penguin, not so much for the haiku. I cannot recommend this book.
Emmerick, Jasmyne and Pamela Graham. We Haiku...So Can You: Haiku Poetry Coloring and Activity Book. This is more a 5-7-5 formula verse book, not really haiku, but it is a very nice coloring book indeed! I really like how it has two different types of pages: there are around 50 poetry pages have a large image to color with the poem on top, and then there are around 50 writing pages with a small version of each coloring page image with space for drafting and then writing a poem. The authors explain at the beginning of the book how haiku poetry works but then they just ignore the traditional features that they explained so clearly and opt for 5-7-5 formula verse instead. Maybe someone will make a coloring book with this great layout but using something more truly like haiku instead!
Okamoto, Lily. Haiku Adventure: A Mindful Journey Through Nature. I've written a blog post about this book which describes the "haiku adventure" activities. It's a nicely done book with lots of space in the book where children can take notes, write poetry, and also color and draw. Some of the pages are meant to be cut out, and there are big clear lines and plenty of space to safely clip those pages from the book. In addition to the haiku adventure activities, the book has bits of information about the haiku poets Basho, Buson, and Chiyo-Ni, and I was very glad to see Chiyo-Ni included.
Pixel Poetry. The Little Coloring Book of Haiku. This is a coloring book with haiku from classical Japanese haiku poets. You first see the poem and a colored-in page, then on the next two-page spread, you see the colored image without the poem, and on the right is the coloring page itself. This is a great layout, and I am glad to see classical haiku here. The one drawback to this book is that the artwork (which I would guess is AI-generated?) sometimes does not match up with the poems. When the animals are rendered with natural details, it works great, but some of the animals are are more cartoon-like, especially their faces which look nothing like animal faces. So, I'm ambivalent about this book. Much like the We Haiku book above, the coloring book design is really nice, but the actual contents fall short.
St. Mary's Catholic School. Haiku Hike [Internet Archive]. This is an absolutely wonderful example of a book written by kids for kids! Kudos to Scholastic for sponsoring these "Kids Are Authors" books; it makes me want to find some more books in this series. The premise here is that some kids, feeling bored, decide to go on a hike... but they forget their camera (this is from 2005; today we would say they go without their phones). So, instead of taking pictures, they take field notes with pencil and paper, and then they write haiku. The book includes 7 haiku accompanied by field notes and with great art (also by the students!). The back of the book has blank field note pages for readers to write in. Lovely! Recommended.
And here's a nice pairing: use this book together with Curtis Manley's Climbing the Volcano in the "Haiku Story" section above for another haiku hike.
Tennakoon, Udaya. The Haiku Classroom. (need to do)

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Books not specifically for kids, but lavishly illustrated

These books would be a wonderful choice for young readers who are familiar with haiku, especially if they are familiar with the Japanese haiku tradition. And with the gorgeous art, these books can also work for younger readers with an adult who can help find the best poems for young readers to read.

Addiss, Stephen, with Fumiko and Akira Yamamoto. A Haiku Garden. [Internet Archive]. Addiss was a great scholar of Japanese art and calligraphy, and also haiku; he passed away in 2022. He published many beautiful books, and this collection of seasonal haiku by Japanese haiku poets is full of wonderful poetry and lovely paintings. See also the next entry. Recommended.
Addiss, Stephen, with Fumiko and Akira Yamamoto. A Haiku Menagerie. [Internet Archive]. This is a companion volume to the preceding book focusing on haiku about the world of "living creatures," once again with beautiful Japanese prints illustrating the poems. Recommended.
Cobb, David. Haiku: The Poetry of Nature. [Internet Archive]. A collection of traditional Japanese haiku, beautifully illustrated with Japanese paintings from the British Museum. David Cobb was an original founder of the British Haiku Society and has published other books about the haiku tradition both in Japan and also in the U.K. Recommended.
Higginson, William, with illustrations by Sandra Speidel, Wind in the Long Grass: A Collection of Haiku [Internet Archive]. Not exactly for children to read on their own, but definitely readable with help, and with lovely artwork; Higginson's contributions to the English-language haiku community were immense, and he found a very congenial artist to work with for this project. His one-page preface manages to tell readers exactly what they need to know, while encouraging them to write their own haiku. Recommended.
Kusch, Aya. Cats in Spring Rain. This is a collection of classical Japanese haiku about cats with an amazing collection of Japanese paintings as illustrations. Recommended.
Patt, Judith, with Michiko Warkentyne and Barry Till. Haiku: Japanese Poetry and Art. Another beautiful pairing of haiku (presented in Japanese and English translation) with gorgeous works of Japanese art, including some very thoughtful juxtapositions of poem and image. The art comes from the collections of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in Canada, and the book was created by the curator of that collection along with two faculty members at the University of Victoria. Well done, all! Recommended.
Pilbeam, Mavis. Haiku Animals. This is another collection of haiki illustrated with paintings from the British Museum; the focus this time is on traditional Japanese haiku about the animals. Instead of being organized by season, it is organized by the time of day. Recommended.
Wilson, William Scott, with illustrations by Manda, Japanese Haiku for Cat Lovers. This is a brand-new beautiful book from Tuttle Publishers (a great source for both haiku and origami books!), and since the theme is cats, this book would be of interest to many children. The illustrations are gorgeous. There is also audio available at the Tuttle website! Highly recommended.

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haiku books I have not seen myself

I'm keeping an eye on these titles, but many of them are "independently published," which means that not very many copies are in circulation. As a result, there won't be any cheap used copies; the used-bookseller algorithm assumes that any book which is in short supply is therefore valuable and prices them high, sometimes very high (why doesn't someone fix the algorithm to take into account self-published books? because honestly, if somebody wants to buy a copy of a self-published book, the seller should accept the offer at pretty much any price). Anyway, you never know: something might turn up!

Alperovich, Shlomi. My First Haiku: Tiny Poems for Little Eyes.

Bank, Sasha. Some Things You Should Know.

Boyer, J. K. Shoreline Haiku.

Crowther, Terri. ABC Book of Haiku.

Foster, Caitlyn. What Makes a Good Bed?

Gogiashvili, Natia. The Boy and The Boomerang.

Harrison, Diane. How to Love a Dog: A Haiku Dog Guide, of Sorts.

Holt, Connie. Grandma's Haiku For Children.

Jasper, Laura. Haiku Tommy.

Joyce, Nancy. The Art of Time.

Love, Charisma. Love of Being Charismatic. (coming out in May; there will be a Kindle version)

Maestro, Betsy. Fat Polka-Dot Cat and Other Haiku

Mattson, Aaron and David. Alphabet Haiku: Beginning with A, of Course, All the Way to Z.

Moore, Holly. Little Moo's ABC Animal Haiku.

Patel, Daksha. Thoughtful Thinking.

Rautenbach, Eric. Animal Haikus for Little Readers.

Richardson, Kelly. Meow Mischief: Haiku A to Z, Abridged.

Rosenstock, Gabriel. Popocatépetl Smoking Mountain. (I am a huge fan of his work; this is the Rosenstock of the Awakened One anthology! I hope I can find an affordable used copy eventually.)

Tokuda-Hall, Maggie. Bathtime for Snow Monkeys. (This book looks like something that I really would like, so I will be snagging a copy as soon as some used copies start circulating!)

Weil, Zaro. Polka Dot Poems. (I'm a fan of Zaro Weil, so hopefully I can snag a copy of this book eventually)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Illustrated Haiku Books: Japanese Poets

Stories Told about Japanese Haiku Poets

More Illustrated Haiku Books

More Illustrated Haiku Books: Animals

Stories Told with Haiku

Sciku, Riddles, Puns, and other "concept" books

How-To-Write Haiku for Young Writers

Haiku Activity Books

Books not specifically for kids, but lavishly illustrated

haiku books I have not seen myself