by Alison

Yes, I am one of those - I am Hello Kitty obsessed. But how can I not be? And who cares if I’m pushing 40? Life is good in Hello Kitty Land.

So of course I greatly enjoyed reading Hello Kitty Through the Seasons, a lovely book of haiku written in the voice of Hello Kitty herself.

Each candy-coated haiku is paired with an equally sweet photo of Hello Kitty in various seasonal settings. The book is a sort of Hello Kitty haiku diary taking us through spring, summer, fall and winter.

One of my favorite photograph-haiku combos takes place in fall and pictures Hello Kitty in her lovely and bright art studio with pallet in hand:

In my chilly loft,

the flowers reassure me:

spring will come again.

So artsy and romantic,  I swear I want to start painting again. See what Hello Kitty can inspire?

And this winter wonderland haiku features Hello Kitty dressed in a pink pom-pomed snowsuit sitting in a snowy field of lollipops:

Storm of white sugar -

a wintery confection,

I sit happily

As my first New Hampshire winter is fast approaching, I can only hope that I too will look upon it as a season of powdery white sugar yummy confections.

by Kelly

Ahhhh. What can I say? I’m soooo not a Hello Kitty fanatic. Not that I have anything against her cute little face. I just don’t get the allure of all the Hello Kitty paraphernalia out there.

And I had no idea Alison was such a fan of said paraphernalia. I knew our year of haiku would bring us closer together, but I must admit, I had no idea it would lead to me reading Hello Kitty haiku. Yet it did.

While Alison was busy checking out the photo-haiku combos of Hello Kitty Through the Seasons, I was reading Hello Kitty Everywhere!

Just like the first book in the series, this book features Hello Kitty all dolled up and looking cute on every page along with a coordinating haiku.

Hello Kitty shows up where you least expect her, like at the sidelines of a football game, rock climbing on a high cliff or dressed as a giraffe while watching a real giraffe at the zoo.

Perhaps my favorite photo in the book shows Hello Kitty all dressed up in a kimono. She’s got flowers in her hair, a fan in her hands and those geshia-girl flip-flop clogs on her feet. She’s pictured looking over a koi pond and the multitude of jeweled fish echo the colors of her dress.

The coordinating haiku reads:

Entranced by the koi,

I did not hear you approach –

Won’t you walk with me?

With that invitation fresh in my mind, I decided to open my eyes to Hello Kitty, and you know what … she is everywhere, just as the title of this book suggests.

Since reading this book, I’ve noticed Hello Kitty lurking about in many of the places I go in my usual life. For example, here is a Hello Kitty haiku I wrote after she popped up in one of my shopping trips:

Mexican deli–

gummy Hello Kitty waits

in the candy aisle