Tap Dancing on the Roof

October 15, 2007
Similar to the Japanese haiku, the Korean sijo packs image, metaphor and surprise into three long (or six short) lines with a fixed number of syllables: “Lightning jerks the sky awake to take her photograph, flash!/ Which draws grumbling complaints or even crashing tantrums from thunder—/ He hates having his picture taken, so he always gets there late.” Newbery Medalist Park’s (A Single Shard
) sijo skip lightly from breakfast (“warm, soft, and delicious—a few extra minutes in bed”) to bedtime (about bathing: “From a tiled cocoon, a butterfly with terry-cloth wings”), with excursions to the backyard, the classroom, and the beach (“Are all the perfect sand dollars locked away somewhere—in sand banks?”). The sijo’s contours are clean and spare, qualities echoed in the blue-gray, black and white architecture and crisp shadows of Banyai’s (Zoom
) digital illustrations. In the spirit of Park’s experiments with this verse form, Banyai’s miniature children bounce through a series of imaginative leaps unencumbered by the rules of the real world. They sleep in teacups, grow wings and fly among the flowers, snip mathematical equations to bits with gigantic pairs of scissors, and wreak havoc with bottles of ink. Park wants readers to try sijo for themselves, and in an extensive author’s note she offers history, advice and encouragement; her own sijo and Banyai’s cheeky images will supply the motivation. Ages 9-12.

Starred review from November 1, 2007
Gr 2-6-"Sijo" is a traditional Korean form of poetry that can take two different shapes, three lines or six lines, using a strict syllable count as haiku does but with distinct differences. All of the lines have a purpose: in a three-line poem, the first one would be the introduction, the second would continue the theme, and the third and final line holds a sort of punch line, be it a play on words or a whimsical observation. Park's "sijo", 28 in all, harmonize with illustrations that are deceptively simple at first glance, but have a sophistication and wise humor that will make viewers smile, and at second glance make them think. The selections are thoughtful, playful, and quirky; they will resonate with youngsters and encourage both fledgling and longtime poets to pull out paper and pen. The author's note includes historical background on "sijo", further-reading suggestions, and a helpful guide to writing in the form. A smart and appealing introduction to an overlooked poetic form."Susan Moorhead, New Rochelle Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2007
Newbery Medalist Park believes that Korean sijo (poems) deserve to beas widely known as that language-arts workhorse haiku, and with this lighthearted collection of her own sijo, the form will make a flying leap into the consciousness of both children and teachers. Sijo is a bit more complicated than haiku, as one can see from the examples, in which lines appear to vary significantly in length and number. Appended explanations note that these discrepancies represent different approaches to the same basic structure, traditionally based on three lines with a set number of stresses and a concluding, conceptual shift. Reflecting sijo's breadth of theme, Park's poems cover topics of immediate resonance to children, includingschool lunch, long division, and snowmen threatened by warm weather, and children will recognize the engaging turnabout at each poem's close. Banyai's artwork forms a charmingly oblique counterpoint to the mostly down-to-earth entries, with an understated mint-and-gray palette and loose representations that avoid cleaving to any single interpretation. Some readers may wish that Park's occasional sequencing of similarly themed poems had been a little more consistent and decisive, but most will simply enjoy the language, by turns playful and gorgeously descriptive (a receding tide leaves beach sand ?freshly scalloped?), and appreciate the advice for sijo writers at every level.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2007
Sijo is a traditional Korean form of poetry; commonly, "a sijo in English has three lines, each with fourteen to sixteen syllables," Park explains. The first two lines introduce and develop the topic; the third provides a twist, via "humor or irony, an unexpected image, a pun, or a play on words." Park demonstrates with twenty-seven sijo on the topics of seasons and routines of home and school. Perhaps the best example she includes is in her author's note and is the work of Kim Kwang-uk, who lived from 1580-1656; nevertheless, her own poems have that twist that goes beyond the limits of culture and personal sensibility and strikes at common human experience. One day, "the ocean churns, foams, roars, dashes, hurls huge breakers at the sand! / The next day it's all tired out and takes a long nap in the sun," read the last two lines of "Ocean Emotion," offering an original take on a familiar situation. "Summer Storm" comments amusingly on thunder's delayed response to lightning: "He hates having his picture taken, so he always gets there late." In a sports sijo, Park describes playing defense as "playing for nothing" -- but argues that "'nothing' means everything" when the final score is one to zero. Banyai's illustrations enhance the collection with an extra element of wit and imaginative freedom; he staves off sentiment with ironic, retro-style cartoons, carefree lines, and playful interpretations of the verbal text.

(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)