Meow Ruff- Genre 3

Bibliography

Sidman, Joyce. 2006. Meow Ruff. Ill. by Michelle Berg. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0618-44894-4

Plot Summary

This story is written in concrete poetry. On a clear, sunny day a dog runs out of his house. At the same time a car drops off a confused cat, leaving it all alone. The dog smells the cat and is off on a hunt for it. The cat recognizes the dog and begins hissing at him. The clouds are beginning to grow and become dark. A thunderstorm begins. The dog and cat hide under the picnic table together where they fall asleep. They awake when the sky is sunny again and begin to play together. The owner of the dog picks up the cat and asks "if he has found a friend?"

Critical Analysis

This story made up of concrete poetry takes time to read. You may even need to read it more than once. I found I had to look in the pictures for hidden words. The bottoms of the pages have words describing the sidewalk or grass. The art in this story is made up of the text. I was surprised that the illustrator was not the author too. Michelle Berg uses very bold colors and simple drawings (two dimensional) that were digitally created. Every page is outlined in a black line. The poems use many adjectives to describe the changing weather and how the dog and cat change their attitudes about each other and become friends. The clouds begin as a wisp until they are heavy with words. The rain begins as a "drip" and progresses to "fat rain berries", and "wet sky missiles". Sidman chooses her words carefully to add onomatopoeia to the poems which allows the reader to hear what is happening too.

Review Excerpt(s)

Minnesota Book Award 2007

Jennifer Mattson (Booklist): "unlike most books about the form, doesn't just collect unrelated poems, but tells a story through them."

Sheilah Eagen (Children's Literature): "Set aside some time to fully explore this masterpiece of words and shapes--a match made in concrete poetry heaven."

Horn Book 2006: "This book takes concrete poetry to a new level."

Connections

-Find other books of concrete poetry to share with each other.

- Have students lightly sketch any animal on paper. Brainstorm words about their animal parts (ex. beak, feathers). Fill in the sketch with the words.

- Brainstorm the different forms of water. Write a poem about their favorite form of water. Rewrite the poem in the shape of whatever they are writing about.