as I walked one day-
random sunbathing surprise
beach time mystery!
dog toy? picnic side?
fallen barbecue baked dish?
couch beach potato
beach time mystery by Angie Quantrell
Grayland Beach State Park, WA
Haiku Moment: beach time mystery
Tag Archives: word play
Haiku Moment: mimic
you crouch and mimic
wearing the perfect bright hue
artfully hidden
mimic by Angie Quantrell
Yakima Valley
Haiku Moment: a pop-py
fuzzy fat pods hang
drooping from scrawny stems, then
a pop-py bursts forth
a pop-py
by Angie Quantrell
Yakima Valley
OH, THE THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH HAIKU! (+ WHO WON THE GIVEAWAY?)
Thank you, Danna Smith, for sharing all about haiku last week in a very special blog post. You can read it here. Danna has offered a giveaway of 2 (TWO!) of her Poetry Pop Journals! Wow!
But first. I had to play. I used the template Danna shared and penned a haiku comic. Sadly, you have to use your imagination to understand the drawings, and it was much harder to print small words than it looks! This is Monet, our cat. She loves the garden and watching moving things. I assure you, she is much prettier in real life.
In case you can’t read the print, here is my haiku comic:
Monet writes a haiku.
hot summer bees buzz
zig-zag garden rocket ships
orbiting flowers
Now that was fun! We would LOVE to read your haiku! Post one in the comments or tag us with #haikumoment so we can find you!
Drum roll, please.
The winner (with assistant Monet) of the Poetry Pop journals is:
It got a little dicey after this, because then Monet wanted to play a paper game.
Alyson, come on down! You are the winner of 2 Poetry Pop journals!
Thanks, everyone, for reading and participating in the fun. And thank you, Danna, for the word play fun and inspiration!
Now, let’s all go HAIKU!
Haiku Moment: snow clothes
winter! there you are,
dancing in, fancy free . . . wood
is wearing snow clothes
snow clothes by Angie Quantrell
Winter, Yakima Valley
Book Review: This Is Not A Unicorn! By Barry Timms and Ged Adamson
This Is Not A Unicorn!
Written by Barry Timms
Illustrated by Ged Adamson
Nosy Crow, 2023
Let me say, what a creative, imaginative picture book! Florescent colors, fun characters, delightful word play, and general amazing-ness. Thank you, Nosy Crow, for sending me a copy of This Is Not A Unicorn! (along with the super red tote)!
This Is Not A Unicorn! was the perfect gift for my 7-year-old granddaughter. She loves books and unicorns. In fact, after I gave her the book, we sat outside and read it together. And then we utilized the featured QR code (see below) and listened to the read aloud! So much fun! Books make perfect gifts.
I love the brilliant colors used in This Is Not A Unicorn!. At first, I was a bit shocked at how vibrant and glow-in-the-dark the illustrations and cover looked to be, but after reading, the colors fit perfectly with the story and the characters.
Word play is something I truly enjoy, and this is spot on for readers of this age. There is plenty of wonderful word play in this picture book.
Imagination! This ranks right up there with word play, characters, and colorful illustrations. Two thumbs up for This Is Not A Unicorn!.
I enjoyed reading This Is Not A Unicorn!. Perfect for readers who love unicorns with creative skills.
Haiku Moment: leaking love
upon reflection
holes dripping lost connection
my heart leaking love
leaking love by Angie Quantrell
photo by Angie Quantrell, Tieton River Nature Trail, Washington state
Blackout Poem: horse king
horse king by Angie Quantrell
Blackout poems are challenging and fun. I love playing with words and this take-everything-away-except-the-words-you-want is an exercise in deleting the fluff. I thought I was done with this poem, but something did not flow. It originally had 17 words. Actually, the entire page had hundreds of words, but I didn’t count those. I kept reading and rereading. Aha! I figured out which 2 words needed to be blacked out. Ta-dah! Here is horse king, a 15-word blackout poem by yours truly.
From the 15-word poem, can anyone guess which book this page comes from? Don’t worry, the book is old, missing pages, and falling apart. Besides recycling, wrapping gifts, art projects, and decorating walls, there is not much else I can do with this book. Let me know your guess in the comments below.
Blackout Poem: pretend
I’ve been wanting to try a blackout poem for quite some time. And then I found this falling apart, old copy of Pippi Longstocking and decided to give it a try. The thinking and imagining is quite different when one is removing words instead of adding them. It’s a fun challenge!
Haiku Moment: rocket
beach transport Rocket
he’s not rocket-y at all
my view from behind
rocket by Angie Quantrell
photo by Angie Quantrell
Ocean Shores, Washington
Love, Laughter, and Life 
