bow wow meow meowBibliography:
Florian, Douglas. 2003. Bow wow meow meow: It’s rhyming cats and dogs. San Diego: Harcourt. ISBN: 0152163956.

Plot Summary:
Douglas Florian has published several themed poetry collections about mammals, insects, and amphibians, but bow wow meow meow is devoted solely to dogs and cats.  Florian has chosen some of the most popular breeds of canines and felines and constructed short, descriptive rhymes about them.  Most of the animals depicted are common pets, but Florian has also included wild cats like the ocelot, cheetah, and leaopard, etc.   Each poem is accompanied by an illustration also created by Florian, who used watercolors painted on primed brown paper bags.

Critical Analysis:
As a children’s literature poet, Florian tends to focus on rhyming words in his poems.  This feature makes his poetry easy for children to identify and humorous when Florian chooses interesting words to rhyme with each other (as in the poem “The Persian”, he rhymes “version” with “purrrsian”.)   One unique detail that Florian incorporates into his poetry collection is the illustrative use of typography to add visual interest and imagery to the subject.  He adds additional spaces in the word “s t r e t c h”, fills in every letter “o” with black in “The Dalmation”, and curls the sentences into circles in “The Poodles”.

Florian’s interesting watercolor images also add visual enhancement to his poems.  Many of the illustrations are painted with bold, vivid colors, while others remain more monochrome.  Florian uses his illustrations to convey the tone and mood of the subject, which means some images are simple and straightforward, but others are as funny as the poem calls for (as in “The Jaguarundi”, which is depicted as a wild cat wearing underwear.)

Florian makes reading poetry fun for children.  His work is short and simple with a bit of humor, and animal lovers will particularly enjoy his tribute to four-legged friends.

Review Excerpts:
Booklist starred review: “In this winning collection, both clever and silly, Florian again shows how much fun poetry can be.” – Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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.” - Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Connections:

  • Read other poetry collections by Florian such as: in the swim, beast feast, and mammalabilia
  • Have children write their own descriptive poems about animals (particularly those who have their own pets), and encourage them to illustrate it.