A Curious Collection of Cats

A Curious Collection of Cats

Bibliography:

Franco, Betsy. 2009. A CURIOUS COLLECTION OF CATS. Ill. by Michael Wertz. Berkeley,CA: Tricycle Press. ISBN 9781582462486

Plot Summary:

A delightful collection of poems about adorable "couch-scratching" and "mouse-catching" cats. In all thirty-four lively visual poems, award winning poet Betsy Franco portrays cats' peculiar behavior. You are never quite sure what a cat is going to do next. In each poem a reader meets a cat, who has its own kind of adventure, from "toilet-bowl-sipping" to "acrobat-flipping."

Critical Analysis: 

This Individual Poet Compilation book is a perfect choice for cat lovers of all ages. A beautiful combination of verse, word art, and illustration leads a reader to a world of feline-centric poetry.  

Betsy Franco’s poetry is engaging and fun. Her use of alliteration and assonance coupled with the orientation of her words on the page reinforces the imagery of Michael Wertz’s illustrations. For instance, in the poem “balancing act”, Franco calls Kabob “an agile athlete”, writing the words beneath a picture of a “buff” Kabob, then writes the words “even falling upside down” upside down beneath a picture of Kabob falling upside down. In the poem, “tabitha’s tail”, Franco’s words are written in the shape of the cat’s tail as illustrated by Wertz. Even the choice of colors and contrasts compliments the mood of the poems. Such is the case in “shadow’s dream” where Wertz uses black and varying shades of blue to create a moonlit shadow of a cat pursuing a mouse, while Franco’s words describe the cat’s dream.

Experts Reviews:

An ABC Best Book for Children

Together, poet and artist convey the silliness of cats and their humans without ever being silly themselves. The Horn Book Review.

"Every cat lover and classroom will want to add this purrfect book to their libraries, and will certainly want to share this on ewith a cat or two." Review, Language Arts, July 1, 2010

"Cat lovers will recognize the standoffs with arching backs, the cozy touch of the 'purrfect' scarf on their shoulders, and the tech-savvy cat who walks across the keyboard to add her own note to an e-mail to a friend.” Booklist

Connections:

Read some more "cats"books:

KITTEN'S FIRST FULL MOON by Kevin Henkes,

MILLIONS OF CATS by Wanda Gag,

SPLAT THE CAT by Rob Scotton.

              

Read other books by Betsy Franco:

BIRDSONGS,

POND CIRCLE,

MESSING AROUND ON MONKEYS BARS: AND OTHER SCHOOL POEMS FOR TWO VOICES.