The Maine Coon's Haiku (2015)

The Maine Coon's Haiku and Other Poems for Cat Lovers. Michael J. Rosen. Illustrated by Lee White. 2015. Candlewick. 56 pages. [Source: Review copy]

If you love cats and poetry, this one may prove quite satisfying. If you merely like cats and poetry, you still might find something to make the book worth your time.

All of the poems are haiku. Each haiku is titled after a particular breed of cat: twenty in all. The book also provides readers with an opportunity to learn a little bit about each of the breeds featured in the book. I liked this back matter.

Which cat breeds are included?

• Maine Coon
• Ragdoll
• Turkish Angora
• Siamese
• Russian Blue
• Bombay
• Norwegian Forest Cat
• British Shorthair
• American Shorthair
• Burmese
• Birman
• Balinese
• Himalayan
• Japanese Bobtail
• Abyssinian
• Persian
• Havana Brown
• Scottish Fold
• Bengal
• Manx

I enjoyed this one. I can't say I loved it. I certainly found two or three poems which I LOVED. But I didn't love each and every poem.

Bombay
paired shadows prowling
in nightfall, but just two lights
pierce that darkness

Balinese
on the windowsill's
balance beam, the cat pirouettes
as the kipple pings

Abyssinian
curled up on your book
cat won't care what happens next
now's the only page

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews