Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Book of the Day: Guyku by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Introducing the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Book of the Day series!

This series is pretty self-indulgent for me, as it combines my intern life at HMH and one of my favorite blogging exercises - a picturebook series.

First up in the series is a book coming out this fall:

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys
by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
9780547240039, $14.99, Pub. Date: October 2010

Whimsical and kid-friendly, these haikus speak to the little guys about favorite seasonal activities. Acclaimed illustrator Peter H. Reynolds (probably known best for his books Dot and Ish) brings his signature charm to these illustrations, using a muted color-palate of shades of one color per season - greens for spring, yellows for summer, browns for fall, and blues for winter. Children of all races and sizes fly kites, pound cattails to make pretend snow, skip rocks, and play in the stream. My favorite aspect of this book is that almost every scene takes place outside. This is a true celebration of outdoor fun during all four seasons.

Proving these activities can be enjoyed just as much by girls as guys, one of my favorite haikus reminds me of summer nights from my own childhood when my father used to take my sister and me out to tell us about the stars:

"Lying on the lawn,
we study the blackboard sky,
connecting the dots."

This is a perfect book to share on the first day of each new season, and then write your own seasonal haikus. Encouraging notes by the author and the illustrator at the end will help the reader connect with the creators of such a poignant, inspiring book.