Reading poetry used to be a fun pastime for me. However, recently, I have not been able to find a poet or collection that speaks to me. Things feel overly complicated, too lofty, too trying to be “deep and meaningful” with great subjects, but fall flat in the understanding of what the heck is being talked about. Sometimes I just need Red Fish, Blue Fish, or “Crowded Tub” by Shel Silverstein. Sometimes I like rhymes like that, but other times I just want a nice, straight forward poem(s) to enjoy. I want to not only understand the words, I want to find something in it; a meaning to the words. And when I found If Pets Wrote Poems: A Parody Collection by Susan Johnston Taylor and Sandie Sonke (illustrator), I knew I found it.
This collection of poems is written as if the pets, companions, or creatures of the forest (a fox) wrote the poem in the style of their human. Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, Margaret Wise Brown, Jack Kerouac and even Benjamin Franklin have their style of writing come alive in easier to read and understand language. Poems are done for the younger reader allowing access to style of, if not content of, mostly adult creators (I mean The Raven probably should not be read to my almost 2-year-old great niece. Yet). The author/poet’s content is age-appropriate and informative with mini biographies of the poet included on their page.
Cute illustrations accompany the poetry. The cover gives you an idea of how the internal images come off. They are colorful, not overly detailed, but include the ones that are needed. Supporting the poems, both humor and seriousness come into play with a bit of tongue in cheek (after all a cat writing about a mouse, or a squirrel writing anything already gives you the jokes). Everything is nice, clever and works for ages five to 105.
