It's Hard to Read a Map With a Beagle on Your Lap

A collection of poems features picky Pekingese, galumphing Saint Bernards, madcap mongrels, and many other crazy canines as they eat, sleep, romp, dream, confuse, bemuse, and amuse.

Grade 3-6-- Singer follows her wonderful Turtle in July (Macmillan, 1989) with a joyous romp through the canine world. In limericks ("There once was a young weimaraner/Who frequently ate at a diner"), verse ("Dogs like to stop at hydrants/They like to stop at trees/They like to lean out windows/And catch a little breeze"), and rhythmic combinations (on ears: "Floppy/Sloppy/Standing High"), the essence of dogdom is celebrated. The author's humor is matched by Oubrerie's playful, stylized drawings. Poems run in circles, stretch across pages, and appear in inserts. This is a rare book of poetry, one in which the subject matter is interpreted perfectly in text, art, and design. A book to chase down, leash, and own. --Kathleen Whalin, Belfast Public Library, ME
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.