September 26, 2024 by Macmillan Children's Book
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
I am very picky about poems, so when I say that this book was okay, it's actually high praise. This is a longer book of poetry (over 60 poems), and is quite varied in both content and format. A wide range of animals, from cats, dogs, snakes, and hamsters to the more imaginative blue whale, sloth, chicken, and tarantula, are described in a style that can best be described as Robert Frost meets Ogden Nash. There are some concrete poems, some with standard rhyme and meter, some free verse, and some that are innovative, like the poem "written" by a cat getting on a keyboard!
There are some stand outs, like ACROSSTICK, about a dog with a tick, Pet Peeve, about a chameleon, and Love Poem to My Dog. All are interesting, and show a great love of pets. There is plenty of humor, some puns, and the poems read well out loud. There is an index of first lines that is particularly helpful.
This author also has a book about football called 50 Ways to Score a Goal which was momentarily exciting, until I realized it was not about US football, but rather about soccer. He is also apparently very active on social media. I'm debating whether or not to buy the book. It's an impressive collection, even if some of the poems are a bit lengthy (my middle school readers prefer shorter poems), and the meter could use some work, but if I had to buy one collection this year, this would be the one. Sadly, none of the language arts classes cover poetry now, and I have a decent collection of poetry books that don't circulate.
Larger libraries with more budget or more interest in poetry should definitely take a look, since pet themed poetry books are usually in demand with young readers.
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