Nevada City boy's haiku highlighted in national children's publication
By Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
» More from Trina Kleist
12:01 a.m. PT Mar 27, 2008
Tanner Pawlawski was 9 when he noticed a hummingbird flitting past the window of his Nevada City home.
His mother, Cindy Pawlawski, home schooled the boy at the time. As a part of his curriculum through the Nevada City Home School program, Tanner wrote a poem last May about what he saw and submitted it for publication to Highlights for Children, a national children's magazine published in Honesdale, Penn.
"Highlights receives more than 60,000 letters and drawings from kids each year, and we are only able to publish a few hundred," said magazine spokeswoman Hilary Bates.
Despite the odds, Tanner's haiku poem about a hummingbird was published in this month's issue.
"Six months (after submitting the poem), we got a letter," Cindy Pawlawski said. "He was so excited."
This year, Tanner is attending Mt. St. Mary's Academy in Grass Valley.
Launched in June 1946, Highlights is the most widely read children's magazine in the world, with more than 2 million subscribers.
The magazine features stories, nonfiction articles, puzzles, jokes and ideas for games and family activities. Its Web page, www.HighlightsKids.com, offers interactive content related to each issue, and www.HighlightsParents.com offers material for parents.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail tkleist@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
Hummingbird
The wing is so fast
One hundred times a second
I cannot see it.
- Tanner Pawlawski, 10,
Nevada City
