Pug: And Other Animal Poems Hardcover – March 19, 2013

Not only Pug--and a dachshund--but also a fox, a cat, a rabbit, an opossum, a bull, a fly, a Bengal tiger, rabbits, geese, a thrush, toads, a mouse, a cicada, sparrows, pigeons & a rat are profiled.

I love children's literature, poetry, and pugs (not necessarily in that order, mind). So when the three came together in one tidy package, I knew I had to read it. A companion book to Animal Poems (Worth and Jenkins' first collaboration), Pug and Co. more than holds its own. Worth has constructed a number of exquisitely simple poems about everyday animals, the kind a child is likely to see while out and about, such as rabbits, geese, toads, and even the humble fly. The only featured animal a child would be unlikely to meet in town or countryside is the Bengal tiger, and even that creature is seen at a zoo, so there you go.Jenkins, with his bold collages, does a marvelous job of showing each animal off to its advantage. The bull, "hacked-out, rough-hewn, from the planet's hard side," has its massive bulk placed against an intensely red background. Sparrows and pigeons cavort above silhouetted city buildings, while a cat winds its mysterious way through shadowy bushes, "like an old familiar spirit."As for my favorite canine, Worth describes pugs as having "goggling eyes and stumpy noses, wrinkled brows and hairy moles." And if some people consider them "plug-ugly," perhaps that's because "for dogs, they look a lot like people." How true!

PoetryRecommended for all ages!Valerie Worth is a master or words. We know her for taking the simple and putting the most perfect words with it. Be it a chair or a cow, Valerie can help us see it and appreciate it in an entirely new way. So of course, we expect nothing less of her here! Each short animal poem in this little collection is as darling and as true as we could ever hope to find. And the illustrations, the illustrations bring this to a new level. Steve Jenkins' beautiful collage work will have you appreciating the time and attention to detail of each animal image. This is needed in all of our poetry collections!