Book Review: BOW WOW MEOW MEOW

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Florian, Douglas. 2003. BOW WOW MEOW MEOW. Ill. by Douglas Florian. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0152163956

2. PLOT SUMMARY:
In this beautifully illustrated picture book, Douglas Florian presents 21 poems, 11 about dogs of all breeds and sizes, and 10 about cats from domesticated to wild. The poems are thoughtful and humorous. Each selection is short and could be read aloud. The target audience for this book is age 4-8.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
I wonder if author Douglas Florian is playing favorites by writing 11 poems about dogs and only 10 about cats in his funny and insightful picture book entitled, BOW WOW MEOW MEOW. One thing is for sure, Florian doesn't play favorites with poetic form. The poems run the gamut from long strings of rhymed couplet as in "Cat Chat" to concrete poems of pure fun as in the curly poem-shapes in "The Poodles," to poems of haiku-like simplicity, as in "The Manx."

Who always yanks
The tail off the Manx?

Florian's play with poetic form is accompanied by plays on words, playful sounds, fanciful images, and surprising poetic turns. BOW WOW MEOW MEOW shows a definite penchant for puns, describing the bloodhound as "Scent-sational" and the jaguarundi as wearing "jaguarundi-wear." Playful sounds abound, too, with the Chihuahua barking "Chi-hua! hua! hua! hua! hua! hua! hua!" and the Persian cooing about its "purrrrsian" "pet-igree." Fanciful imagery is evoked by both poem and picture working together. My favorite example of imagery, being a dachshund owner, is "The Dachshund." This short poem, which begins, "Short up front/And short behind/But so long in-between," is accompanied by a naive watercolor dachshund snaking along the page below a curvy cityscape. Inside the dachshund's body, tiny figures can be seen, illustrating the poem's final lines, "The fleas all ride/Upon my side/In my s t r e t c h limousine." Finally, Florian uses the old Shakespearean technique of the poetic turn in a surprising and light-hearted fashion. In "The Bulldog," the bulldog is praised for its pride, wisdom, straight chin, strong nose, and great brow, only to find out that the praise is somewhat forced, since, "I'd say his face was full of charm/If he would let go of my arm." "The Pointers," too, offer surprises:

Some pointers point at foxes
Some pointers point at hares.
Some pointers point at pheasants.
Mine points at Frigidaires.

Each poem is delightfully illustrated with detailed, yet naive watercolors on paper, which the endnote explains, are brown paper bags. From the bulldog's four pointy teeth, to the ants' antennae, Florian uses an economy of brushstrokes to pull the very essence of each animal into the picture. This book is aimed at ages 4-8, but will be enjoyed by dog, cat, and art lovers of any age.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred Review in BOOKLIST: "...it's clear that Florian's latest poetry collection has all the exuberance of his previous works. Once again, he combines playful, animal-inspired verse and childlike watercolors."

Review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: This is a delightful selection to read aloud to younger children, and it offers older students models of simple poems that really work. A definite contender for 'best in show.'"

5. CONNECTIONS
*Read other poetry books by Douglas Florian such as LIZARDS, FROG, AND POLLIWOGS (ISBN 015202591X) and INSECTLOPEDIA (ISBN 0152013067) and compare/contrast.
*Read other dog and cat poetry such as LITTLE DOG AND DUNCAN (ISBN 061811758X) or CATKU: WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ONE CAT NAPPING? (ISBN 0740741691)
*Use Florian's naive/primitive artistic style to springboard into a discussion of outsider art such as the art of Mose Tolliver, whose work will be showcased in the picture book, MOSE T: A TO Z by Anton Haardt, due out November 1.