Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons

by Jon J Muth

Overview

Caldecott Honoree and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author/artist Jon J Muth takes a fresh and exciting new look at the four seasons!

Eating warm cookies on a cold day is easy

water catches every thrown stone skip skip splash

With a featherlight touch and disarming charm, Jon J Muth--and his delightful little panda bear, Koo--challenge readers to stretch their minds and imaginations with twenty-six haikus about the four seasons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545166683
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/25/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jon J Muth has written and illustrated many enchanting picture books, including his Caldecott Honor Book ZEN SHORTS and its sequel, the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling picture book ZEN TIES. Other beloved titles from Jon include THE THREE QUESTIONS, GERSHON'S MONSTER by Eric Kimmel, and THE CHRISTMAS MAGIC by Lauren Thompson. Muth lives in upstate New York with his wife and five children.

Editorial Reviews

The illustrations are beautifully rendered by Muth in muted colors, with deft brush strokes that suggest the calligraphy of the Far East…Some of Muth's seasonal episodes are tender, some dreamlike, some goofily comic.

The New York Times Book Review - John Lithgow

★ 12/02/2013
Twenty-six gossamer watercolors celebrate the changing seasons with Koo, the young panda Muth introduced in Zen Ties (he’s the nephew of Stillwater, Muth’s famous panda sage). Each page features a haiku about an evocative moment (eating cookies, accidentally killing an insect) or small natural miracle (crocuses, fireflies), which, in turn, contains a word that begins with a letter of the alphabet. In the “D” haiku (“Dance through cold rain/ then go home/ to hot soup”), Koo mimics Gene Kelly, hanging off a street lamp and beaming in the rain; a second vignette shows Koo seated at the lunch table. White space is used to marvelous effect. On the “K” page, a cardinal sits on a branch against a backdrop of white, while Koo smiles from beneath it under a headdress of snow: “King!/ my crown a gift/ from a snowy branch.” In spring, Koo frolics on a grassy hill, his stubby legs up in the air, then tickles a friend with a flower for “V” (“Violet petal/ caressing a cheek/ butterfly kisses”). It’s a joyous addendum to the Stillwater books, and it overflows with the same characteristic tenderness. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for ZEN SHORTS

-Caldecott Honor Book, Charlotte Zolotow Award, Parents' Choice Award, Book Sense Book of the Year, Bank Street Best Book of the Year

* "Every word and image comes to make as perfect a picture book as can be." -- KIRKUS REVIEWS, starred review
* "Like The Three Questions (2002), Muth's latest is both an accessible, strikingly illustrated story and a thought-provoking meditation." -- BOOKLIST, starred review

Praise for ZEN TIES

-NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller
-NAIBA Best Book of the Year

* "Stillwater . . . continues to combine his slow-moving grace with genuine spiritual tranquility. Muth's brush is as sure as ever. . . . From a religious tradition that makes no theological demands and that will be unfamiliar to most readers, Stillwater offers a model of pure saintliness, and children will instantly respond to him." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review

Praise for ZEN GHOSTS

"Stunning." -- USA TODAY; featured in recommended list of Halloween books
* "Haunting in multiple senses of the word, this tale should captivate thoughtful readers, as Muth's watercolors convey a world of infinite possibility and gentle enchantment." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review

Praise for Hi, Koo! : A Year of Seasons :

- 2015 ALA Notable Children’s Books List Award Winner

Kirkus Starred Review
Long before photography, poets took to haiku, the poetic equivalent of a snapshot, and painters to the suggestive medium of watercolor to capture the essence of moments in nature.

Caldecott Honoree Muth (Zen Shorts, 2005) employs both, with the help of his playful panda Koo, to present 26 moments through the seasons. Though light in tone and geared toward pre-reader eyes and interests, the mostly outdoor scenes Muth depicts command serious attention from all. The first page simultaneously demonstrates both Muth’s adherence to haiku’s three-line form rather than its traditional five-seven-five syllabic sequence and his exquisite use of white space. “Autumn, / are you dreaming / of new clothes?” reads the text as Koo reaches up to try to catch a handful of falling leaves. One of the few scenes referencing indoor living hilariously comes in early spring: “too much TV this winter / my eyes are square / let’s go Out and play.” Two children and Koo stand in front of a large television, the whites of the children’s eyes boxed and zombielike and Koo’s, two solid black squares. A more reflective, deeply moving spring moment finds the children alone with a book in the woods, Muth’s delicate watercolor and subtle inking deftly suggesting the forest’s shifting scope.

Throughout, condensed poetic image coupled with spare illustration yields huge effect; in a word, magical.

From the Publisher

In the introduction to this quiet, thoughtfully playful book, Muth writes, “haiku is like an instant captured in words—using sensory images.” He has managed to do just that, bringing the panda Koo (Zen Ties) back to walk the reader through the seasons, playing and observing as they go. Autumn is encapsulated by “these leave/fall forever/my Broom awaits…Dance through cold rain/then go home/to hot soup.” Winter is described through “Icicles/reach down with dripping fingers/will they touch the ground?” while a bright red cardinal is “King!/my crown a gift/from a snowy branch” as Koo stands with a mound of snow plopped on his head. Spring includes “Reading aloud/a favorite book/an audience of sparrows” (and surrounded by lush greenness). Muth’s soft watercolor palette changes through the seasons, with warmer oranges in the fall, bright splashes of red in winter, and purples, green and blue in spring and summer. There is much white space on each page, allowing readers to focus on the text and simple images while leaving plenty of openness for the imagination to complete. Muth does not strictly follow the rules of haiku, pointing out in the introduction that modern poets “no longer adhere so rigidly to this structure [of syllables].” In that same introduction, he also invites readers to find the “alphabetical path” through the poems. While simple enough for the preschool set, this beautifully written and illustrated book will appeal to readers of all ages—and hopefully encourages all to “go out and play,” which Muth suggests after “too much TV this winter/my eyes are square.” Reviewer: Peg Glisson; Ages 3 to 8.

Children's Literature - Peg Glisson

02/01/2014
K-Gr 4—Muth, in his author's note, says "haiku is like an instant captured in words." Indeed, that is evident in 26 poems depicting images across four seasons, starting with fall. Muth's well-known panda, Koo, is depicted on a white background with just a touch of blue sky, looking up at swirling leaves: "Autumn/are you dreaming /of new clothes?" Koo, who begins alone, is soon joined by two children for the rest of the seasons. In the spring, birds alight on Koo, the girl, and on a branch held by the boy: "Quiet and still/long enough/for birds to make nests?" The color palette for the contemplative watercolors changes through the seasons, with a red-striped scarf and cardinal contrasting against the panda and the white snow. When a crown of snow falls on Koo he exclaims, "King!/my crown a gift/from a snowy branch." Muth's author's note also explains his variation from the traditional five-seven–five poetic form and invites readers to follow "an alphabetical path through the book by following the capitalized words in each haiku." While others haiku picture books include Andrew Clements's Dogku (S & S, 2007), Bob Raczka's Guyku (Houghton Harcourt, 2010), and Rita Gray's One Big Rain (Charlesbridge, 2010), no previous titles so cohesively capture the naturalistic spirit of Japanese haiku. Even readers who are not typically interested in poetry will be captivated by Muth's artistry in both words and images.—Julie R. Ranelli, Queen Anne's County Free Library, Stevensville, MD

School Library Journal

★ 2013-12-18
Long before photography, poets took to haiku, the poetic equivalent of a snapshot, and painters, to the suggestive medium of watercolor to capture the essence of moments in nature. Caldecott Honoree Muth (Zen Shorts, 2005) employs both, with the help of his playful panda Koo, to present 26 moments through the seasons. Though light in tone and geared toward pre-reader eyes and interests, the mostly outdoor scenes Muth depicts command serious attention from all. The first page simultaneously demonstrates both Muth's adherence to haiku's three-line form rather than its traditional five-seven-five syllabic sequence and his exquisite use of white space. "Autumn, / are you dreaming / of new clothes?" reads the text as Koo reaches up to try to catch a handful of falling leaves. One of the few scenes referencing indoor living hilariously comes in early spring: "too much TV this winter / my eyes are square / let's go Out and play." Two children and Koo stand in front of a large television, the whites of the children's eyes boxed and zombielike and Koo's, two solid black squares. A more reflective, deeply moving spring moment finds the children alone with a book in the woods, Muth's delicate watercolor and subtle inking deftly suggesting the forest's shifting scope. Throughout, condensed poetic image coupled with spare illustration yields huge effect; in a word, magical. (Picture book/poetry. 3 & up)

Kirkus Reviews