Bookstories 4: Miriam Chaikin's Don't Step on the Sky

Every book tells its story, but what of the other story, the story behind the book? Bookstories offers an opportunity to tell that story. If you have a story about a book or poem you would like to share, contact us and we’ll help you make it happen. Thanks for letting us know the rest of the story!

My story is a short one—like the poetic form we enjoy.

I published one book of haiku for children, Don’t Step On the Sky (Henry Holt). Since, I have become my own publisher. It happened this way: I met with a poet friend (published, but not of short form) who pulled from his shirt pocket a small chapbook—4″ x 6″, 32 pages—and said, “this is how poetry should be published, in small bites. . . .” I was tempted. I have been putting out annually a small chapbook of my haiku and tanka for distribution to family members, friends, writers, associates, etc., 2 or 3 poems per page. Perhaps a little personal drawing. People like it. They read it. One woman said, “I love it, I can take it out when I wait for the bus and read them.”