Bibliography
Mannis, Celeste Davidson. 2002. One Leaf Rides the Wind. Ill. Susan Kathleen Hartung. New York: Viking. ISBN 9780142401958
Critical Analysis
In One Leaf Rides the Wind, Mannis uses haiku to describe a Japanese garden in the form of a counting book. While written so that even the youngest who are just learning their numbers can understand the book on one level, older readers can appreciate the beauty of the poetry itself. Each poem strictly adheres to the 5-7-5 rule of traditional haiku, as well as the description of nature that traditional Japanese haiku would be written about. This makes is a wonderful book to look at for studying the more traditional aspects since this form of poetry has transformed over the years as it is used in different languages.
While haiku has been known to be one of the least favorite types of poetry, this book is a simple and elegant introduction to such a structured form. Each poem adheres to the structure, but flows easily and creates a vivid mental picture of each item being described. Hartung's illustrations enhance the beauty of each poem, bringing a traditional Japanese garden to life.
The book contains eleven poems about the numbers 1-10 with the first poem repeating at the end to bring the whole book together.
Example
I could using this book for a multitude of reasons. For the youngest, it is a beautiful counting book with clear illustrations to match the numbers. For older readers, it could be used to study the form of haiku itself. I would also use this book when studying Japanese culture, specifically that of a Japanese garden. Along with each poem on a page, there is a small description that goes into more detail about the specific aspect of a traditional Japanese garden being described in the poem. Between the poem, description and illustrations, this book could make for a wonderful cultural study. The following poem describes the art of Bonsai:
3
Suddenly I'm tall!
A miniature forest -
three pots on a wall.
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