Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference.

For Poetry Friday -- "Meow Ruff" by Joyce Sidman with illustrations by Michelle Berg.

 

Sidman's simple tale of an escaped dog and an abandoned cat comforting each other takes concrete poetry to an unexpected level. The illustrations are made up of objects filled with words that create insight into youthful perceptions of the world.

Berg utilizes an imaginative mix of typefaces to fill the spaces occupied by sidewalks, blacktop, car hoods and houses then takes the process one step farther to incorporate words into each drawing as indicators of movement. The gray of a parking lot that stretches across the bottom of a page is filled with: PARKING LOT HOT SPOT, BLACK TAR MULTI CAR, HARD FLAT WELCOME MAT. A small cloud becomes a soft white cluster of words: just/a tiny puff,/a swirl of frosting-/cloud

This entertaining story for young readers is also a lovely introduction to the use of descriptive language.