Bow Wow Meow Meow

Bow Wow Meow Meow: It's Rhyming Cats and Dogs. Douglas Florian. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

"Dog Log"
Rolled out of bed.
Scratched by mhead.
Brought the mail.
Wagged my tail.
Fetched a stick.
Learned a trick.
...

Premise/plot: Bow Wow Meow Meow is an animal-themed poetry collection by Douglas Florian. There are twenty-one poems in all. Eleven poems feature dogs. (One of the dog poems is about a wolf.) Ten poems feature cats. (Only four poems are about house cats. The other six are about BIG cats: lions, cheetahs, leopards, panthers, etc.)

One of my favorite poems is "The Siamese"

I am a cat.
A cat I am.
My ancestors
Were from Siam.
My ears are brown.
My eyes are blue.
And I'm the boss, you know,
Not you!

My thoughts: I really, really loved this one. I liked Zoo's Who, which I reviewed earlier today, but I LOVED this one even more. I had favorite dog poems and favorite cat poems. Overall, I think most readers will find at least one or two poems to absolutely love.

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 8 out of 10

© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Zoo's Who

Zoo's Who. Douglas Florian. 2005. HMH. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence:

The Lizards
Lizards laze
And lizards bask.
What's their favorite food?
Don't ask!

 Premise/plot: Zoo's Who is an animal-themed poetry collection by Douglas Florian. There are twenty-one poems in all. Each poem is accompanied by an illustration--a painting--also by Florian. The poems are short, quite a few include word play. For example, "The Eagle."

I'm not a seagull.
I'm royal.
I'm regal.
All birds are not
Created eagle.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I did. I must admit that "The Eagle" is probably my favorite from the whole book. But there were plenty of other poems that I enjoyed as well. (I also really, really loved his poem about pigs.)  I would recommend this one.

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 7

© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

The Wall in the Middle of the Book

The Wall in the Middle of the Book. Jon Agee. 2018. 48 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: There's a wall in the middle of the book. And it's a good thing. The wall protects this side of the book...from the other side of the book. This side of the book is safe. The other side is not.

Premise/plot: A knight is convinced that his side of the wall is safe...but is it really? Could the knights have his facts wrong?

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. It is a quirky--but fun--read. Adults may enjoy this one just as much--if not more--than children. I loved seeing the action unfold on both sides of the wall. The text is very understated, in my opinion. The illustrations were quite revealing. (Dare I say that one could "read" this one without being able to read the text?)

Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10

© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Who Eats Orange?

Who Eats Orange. Dianne White. Illustrated by Robin Page. 2018. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Who eats orange? Bunnies in their hutches do. Chickens in the henhouse too. Who else eats orange? Goats. Pigs. Gorillas too. Gorillas? No! Gorillas don't eat orange. They eat...

Premise/plot: This nonfiction concept book focuses on the colors various animals eat.

My thoughts: I picked this one up because of the awesome cover. It said--to me--READ ME, READ ME. I had high expectations because of the cover. The book didn't meet those high expectations, but that says more about me than the book itself. If you choose a book based solely on a cover without reading any reviews, then that's a risk you take--being disappointed.

So this one goes through a rainbow of colors. White chooses a few animals to highlight per color. My slight issue with the book--again this says more about me--is that animals rarely eat just one color. So while bunnies do eat orange carrots--they eat plenty of other vegetables that are not orange. You could just as easily list them under green. I read the notes on each animal, and more often than not, the animals eat a rainbow of colors. It just seems arbitrary to me to assign one color per animal.

Text: 2 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out 5
Total: 6 out of 10

© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Board book: Anne's Colors

Anne's Colors. Kelly Hill. 2018. 20 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Orange braids/ white blossoms/ black hair/ pink cheeks

Premise/plot: This color concept book is inspired by L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. It stars Anne, Matthew, Marilla, Diana, and Gilbert. Each spread just has two words. Yet the illustrations capture moments from the novel quite well--all things considered. (I mean two words are TWO words.)

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I wanted to find a kindred spirit in this one. And I did--mostly. But I think it would be better if the colors were arranged differently. The current presentation is sequential--for the most part--except for one spread. They end the book dramatically with GREEN GABLES. Anne is bringing a bouquet of flowers to Marilla AND Matthew. I can see why--for the drama--they'd want to end with that. But. It would have been truer to the book if they'd ended with Anne and Gilbert's PURPLE TWILIGHT. So my preferred order: orange, white, green, black, pink, red, blue, brown, yellow, purple.

The illustrations are PRECIOUS.

© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers