Florian Poetry:

Florian, Douglas. bow wow meow meow. New York: Harcourt, 2003. Print. ISBN 9780152163952.

bow wow meow meow’s theme is domestic animals–cats and dogs in particular. The Table of Contents reflects the titles of the poems which opens with “Dog Love” as the introductory poem of the first of eleven dog poems then ten cat poems follow, opened by “Cat Chat.” After the introductory poems the collection of rhyming and free form poems are descriptive of a dog or a cat breed, and named for that breed such as “The Chihuahua” and “The Persian.” Some of the poems are brief like the afore mention poems and others are concrete poems like “The Dalmatian.” “The Poodle” is a concrete poem written using a poodle's curls as the word shapes. Florian succinctly captures the animals’ presence through the use of onomatopoeias and fun word play, like “purrsian” and “fur-ocious.” Humor and imagination are in each poem as observations of the animals are shared through facts, colors, sounds, and events.

Florian serves as the poet as well as the illustrator for the book. Each poem earns a two page billing allowing for plenty of white space which draws attention to the poem and the accompanying illustration. The poems are on one page and across from it is the watercolor child-like colorful illustration reflecting the animal and the actions found in the poem.

This collection of poetry is a creative combination of sounds, imagery, and a fun-filled view of cats and dogs which has emotional impact on dog and cat fans.

Poem for Library Lesson:

One of my favorite poems is the introductory dog poem, "Dog Log." Listen as the sensory imagery allows the you to experience the poem as the dog wags, chases, chews, listens, and digs. As I read the poem what do you think of? I think of my endless love for animals. The rhyming, rhythm, and sounds of the observations of a dog’s daily activities in connection with the illustration of the dog’s brain is mapped with all the things she does (play dead, fetch) and interacts with (bones, cats) on a daily bases creates a humorous connection because this is also MY DOG’S daily log!!

“Dog Log”
Rolled out of bed.
Scratched my head.
Brought the mail.
Wagged my tail.
Fetched a stick.
Learned a trick.
Chased a hare.
Sat in a chair.
Chewed a shoe-
Table, too.
Got in a spat
With a cat.
Buried a bone.
Answered the phone.
Heard a thief.
Gave him grief.
Time to creep.
Off to sleep.

Activity:

Discuss the title of the poem and the definition of a “log.” List synonyms for the word log as used in the title context. Students work in groups to list a general routine of their daily activities they do on a school day. Using the list students compose a poem that reflects a their daily log that occurs each day. GT students can do the activity individually. Have thesauruses and dictionaries available for students to use. Students voluntarily share their work and work is collected for a book for everyone to see.