Two readers have suggested that authors' names appear near their poems rather than in back. One said that in teaching it's good to discuss the author first: would this still work if there were no contributors' notes to explain who the authors are?

And how do the authors fit into the lesson plan?

Another said they like to know whether an author is a Japanese master, a kid, etc, but I still need a "for instance" or a picture to understand why this is essential. My intention was to erase difference between masters and beginners. (Also some of the illustrations would make it hard to put the byline in the picture, but could go in the margin I suppose.)

As to identifying kids from grown ups: wldn't this become problematic where some of the contributors were kids when they wrote their haiku but are grown-up now?

This is probably a hotter topic than "5=7=5 vs. freeform," so I'll just step aside and listen ... and learn ...

-- Anonymous, April 01, 2000