#365PictureBooks 68. Doggy Ditties from A to Z by Jo van Dam, illustrated by Myles Lawford

Van Dam, J., & Lawford, M. (2014). Doggy Ditties from A to Z. Auckland, New Zealand: Scholastic.

ISBN: 9781775431886
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6 / Middle Childhood 7-12
Genre: Picture Book / NZ Fiction / Poetry
Rating: 5 stars

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Doggie ditties, rather witty,
about a kid's best friend;
a crazy collection, a silly selection,
from A through to Z at the end. 

When I first read this book I thought "Huh, that's dumb, the story doesn't rhyme!".  Then I thought about it, flicked through it again and realised "Doh!  They're not supposed rhyme in a continuous and equal way!".  That's because each page is it's own separate and catchy ditty moving through the alphabet from A to Z.  " What a doofus!"

This gorgeous collection of poems (or ditties) takes the reader through the alphabet in a flurry of dogs.  Starting with Alfie the Affenpinscher and Buddy the Boxer, all the way through to the noisy Yorkshire Terrier and poor Jim the Zuchon.  Did you know there is actually a dog that starts with the letter X?  Very sad there was no Shih Tzu like our Charlie, but the Shar-Pei in his too-big coat is a very cute addition.  You can tell that Jo van Dam has done her research on the various types of dogs and their quirks and foibles.  And her love of wordplay shines through in the variety of poems in this collection.

Myles Lawford's illustrations are a beautiful contrast to the witty ditties.  They depict the dogs in a very realistic and easily recognisable way, whilst bringing out the humorous touches as described in the poems.  And to finish off, the final two-page spread is a park scene with all the dogs from within the book, for you to spy.  There is just so much fun to be had looking at the illustrations, regardless of whether you read the poems or not.

What a great book for bed-time reading and for sharing with dog-lovers.  Also good to add to your collection to update your poetry section, and provide some shorter ditties for the Year 3 & 4 poetry competitions.  And of course, for use as an exemplar in classroom literacy sessions, showing a variety of poetry techniques, and promoting that language can be fun to play with.

And as an extra bonus ... Jo is one of us.  A school librarian in New Zealand ... at two primary schools!  I look forward to reading what you publish next Jo :-)

I got my copy of Doggie Ditties from A to Z from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.