Cool Melons-Turn to Frogs!: The Life and Poems of Issa

ANNOTATION

A biography and introduction to the work of the Japanese haiku poet whose love for nature finds expression in the more than thirty poems included in this book.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Born in 1763 on a farm in central Japan, Issa began writing haiku as a young child. Matthew Gollub has integrated the story of Issa's life and selections of his best-known work with Kazuko Stone's visual interpretations in the form of whimsical watercolors. Full color.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This superb homage to the 18th-century Japanese haiku master is as elegant and spare as the poet's form. Gollub's (The Moon Was at a Fiesta) brief biography introduces Issa's pertinent haiku and tells the story of Issa's transformation from a sad child (his stepmother thwarted his gift) to a recognized, talented poet. Japanese artist Stone (Dorobo the Dangerous), who chose the haiku represented here for Gollub's translation, captures the moment described in each poem with exquisite details, imbued with quiet emotion. For example, for the poem "Climb Mount Fuji,/ Snail, but slowly,/ slowly!" Stone puts readers at a vantage point above a snail traversing a tree branch that appears to lead the way up the great mountain's slope. The poem and image come at the point in the biography when Issa is just beginning his studies, in the long journey to master poet. The book's design lends a fluidity to the interlacing elements: within the narrative, a poem appears on each page, coupled with Stone's expressive visual representation, while the haiku in Japanese calligraphy runs down the outer border. For students of haiku, Gollub explains his deviation from the 17-syllable definition (he chose to adhere closely to Issa's words) and gives a brief history of haiku. Readers would be hard-pressed to find a more eloquent, concise and inspiring approach to understanding (and writing) this deceptively simple art form. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)

Children's Literature - Beverley Fahey

The beauty, simplicity, and grace of haiku come alive in this biography of Kobayashi Yatoro, known as Issa. Born to peasant parents in the late 18th century, Issa marveled at delicate blossoms, the crunch of snow, and the laughter of children. Encouraged by a teacher, who recognized his loneliness, Issa used verse to give voice to his thoughts about nature. Written from the deep recesses of his soul, Issa's work speaks of the pain and joy of a life quietly lived. For thirty of Issa's poems, the thoughtful narratives are accompanied by delicate watercolor and colored pencil drawings, adding a beautiful dignity. Soft brush strokes of cursive calligraphy border every page. Countless children learn to write haiku in our classrooms, and now they can better appreciate the man for whom nature inspired over 20,000 poems.

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

37 of Issa's haiku poems have been masterfully translated and selected to illustrate special events in the revered poet's life. Issa wrote over 20,000 poems. Although he suffered many disappointments, his love for nature never wavered and his passion for poetry continued to blossom and mature. Gollub's selections of haiku correspond to events in Issa's life. The watercolor paintings are exquisite depictions of the poems. The design of the book is as beautiful as the poetry. With so many children writing haiku, this book serves as a rich inspirational text.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5-A successful collaboration of verse and prose that brings a famous 18th-century poet to life. Gollub's original translations of Issa's haiku are interspersed with biographical narrative (slightly fictionalized) so that each one lends context to the other. Each poem is illustrated with a realistic spot or framed watercolor-and-colored-pencil picture, and rendered in Japanese calligraphy in the outer margin. Stone elaborates on her artistic research in endnotes. Gollub explains in detail how he went about his translations so that readers can understand what to look for and what's lost. Although just an introduction, this book explains much about haiku and those who wrote it, information not usually included in titles written for this age level. However, no mention is made of what made Issa so different from his predecessors-his poetry had a casualness and sense of humor that was both criticized and popular. Along with Dawnine Spivak's Grass Sandals (Atheneum, 1997), this book works at restoring the historical and literary context to this popular form of poetry as well as at instilling an appreciation for one of its most enjoyable practitioners.-Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA

Kirkus Reviews

Gollub (Uncle Snake, 1996, etc.) translates 33 of Issa's more than 20,000 haiku, intersperses them through a short biography, and caps it all with an explanation of some of the poems' less obvious images. With the Japanese originals running decoratively along their margins, Stone's appealing formal paintings illustrate the poems literally: children in traditional dress stand with their mouths up and open as "Mouth-watering snowflakes fall/lightly, lightly,/heaven's snack," and green melons in a basket do "turn to frogs!/If people come near." Gollub explains that the haiku are not presented chronologically, so any connections between them and specific incidents in Issa's troubled life are speculative. Nevertheless, readers will get a glimpse of the poet's extraordinary range of subject and feeling, as well as cogent instruction in how to read and understand these deceptively simple verses. (Picture book. 7-9) .