A Dazzling Display of Dogs

by Betsy Franco, Michael Wertz (Illustrator)

From the award-winning team behind A Curious Collection of Cats comes a new collection of visual poems celebrating all things canine—from obedience school, to backyard break outs, to flatulent Fidos. Whether your best friend is a plucky Jack Russell, an indecisive basset hound, or a poodle with an indiscriminate appetite, you're sure to find this dazzling display doggone delightful.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Dogs, Animals, Childrens, Nonfiction, Middle Grade

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Betsy Franco is an accomplished and versatile author whose body of work spans over 80 published titles, including fiction, young adult novels, picture books, and poetry collections. Known for her creative, collage-like approach to storytelling, Franco has also written a screenplay for each of her novels, with Naked optioned for film and The Art of Love currently in post-production.
Franco has a strong background in film and theater, having served as the screenwriting mentor for Metamorphosis, Junior Year, a film adaptation of her novel and play. The project was a family collaboration involving her sons James and Tom Franco, and it was well received at major festivals including Cinequest and Mill Valley, earning recognition as a top ten film by the San Jose Mercury News.
Her creative partnerships with her sons continue across various mediums: she appeared in James Franco’s film The Broken Tower and on General Hospital, while Tom Franco has illustrated her books and co-produced films with her. She also works closely with her son Dave Franco, who assists with her writing projects and participated in the audiobook of Metamorphosis, Junior Year alongside James.

Reviews

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text: 4 stars
Illustrations: 4 stars

Picture book of poetry about dogs. These poems are called concrete poems, but are not shaped like any dog breeds. Still, the text is arranged non-traditionally for all the poems. Illustrations are frenetic and fun. The poems are very dog-like.

[Mikaela Stephenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this adorable book. Written entirely about dogs, it hits a lot of truths as a dog owner. The colorful and abstract illustrations are super appealing and fun. I also love how the words follow the illustrations and make you turn the book at different angles to read. I will definitely be getting my own copy to keep at home and another for my classroom library.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is absolutely gorgeous. At times it can be hard to read. The poems are not laid out stanza by stanza but formed around, through, and with each illustration. This at times can make it hard to decide in which direction to read.

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really clever poems that kids will enjoy all centered on a dog theme. A Dazzling Display of Dogs is a great collection to entice kids to fall in love with poetry in all its bizarre forms. The art is in an attractive graphic style but often detracts from the enjoyment of the poems because the text is incorporated into the art. Sometimes the combination of art and text works beautifully, sometimes it is difficult to tell which line comes next.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dogs + poetry = yes please

[Addy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for my poetry genre. This book is a compilation of poems all having to do with dogs. It is a very fun book with some great illustrations. I liked the way the poems were creatively blended in with the illustrations, it made it fun to read as it was somewhat of a challenge to follow the words around the page. There are many different types of poems, such as haikus and circle poems, so this would be a great book to teach children different types of poems. Each page contained a different poem, and they were all about different things. One poem, in particular, about the struggles of sleeping with a dog, really stuck out to me. It reminded me of how it is to sleep with my dog, Puck. I do recommend this book. I like dogs and I enjoyed reading it. It would be a good book for students to learn about different types of poems, or to get students who like dogs interested in poetry. I am not a big poetry reader, but I did enjoy this book!

[Alex Onslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade: k-8

I LOVED everything about this book! This books illustrations blew me away!!!! This book is all about canines, going through obedience schools, backyard times, cliche dog things like chasing birds. There are what seem to be dozens of different formats of poems. There is so much going on and so much to look at on each page!! The poem structures are completely different on every page you read! EVERYONE needs this book!! You honestly can't even tell where the poems start or begin. Lots of rhyming and abstract shapes, and poem structures. Each page is so colorful!

Focus: dogs, poems,

[Ellee Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copyright date: 2011
Star rating: 3
Award: N/A
Genre: Poetry
Summary w/ themes: This book has many different poems about dogs and unique illustrations to go with them. Each poem talks about a different dog's perspective on something like food or walks. This book has a theme of dogs and poetry.
Use for future classroom: I would probably just keep this book on a bookshelf.
Thoughts of book: I enjoyed the beautiful colors of the book as well as the topic, but I found the way the words were written to be chaotic. I can see how this book would be interesting to students that may not like poetry or that may have ADHD since you kind of have to turn the book to read some of the poems.

[Megan Patel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Dazzling Display of Dogs is a very colorful and playful read. This picture book has poems about different kinds of dogs and their lives. There are many shapes in the illustrations and each page is filled with a variety of colors. This a perfect picture book for a child that loves dogs.
The poems in the book were all different types. The text was hard to read with everything else that had been going on in the book with the illustrations. It was a little difficult to focus on the words that were read. Overall, this book is meant for a child who loves illustrations and dogs the most.

[Summer Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Dazzling Display of dogs is a collection of concrete poems about dogs. The poems are written in shapes that escrow the different poems. For example, there is a poem that circles around a dog describing how dogs turn around in circles until they find the right spot. One down side to this set of poems is there is so many colors and shapes that the children might loose interest in the words and just look at all of the pictures.

[Rosabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to poetry for kids--it's fun, simple, and has an artistic WOW factor to grab their attention, yet it actually covers a rather wide variety of poetic forms (I was delighted to find a cinquain near the end).

The use of art as a part of the poetic expression really makes this a great read for all ages.

[Margaret Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very cute book of poetry that has all to do with dogs. The only thing I would say about this book it may be hard to read for some students because the pictures and writing come together in the illustrations. It was a definitely a little tricky for me to read. But overall it’s so cute and I love all the illustrations and how they have to do with Dogs.

[Katie Voss · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best collections of concrete poems, and best collection of dog poems, I've seen in a while. The colors were brilliant, the forms and shapes we're phenomenal, and the content could not be more endearing. No matter your age, if you love dogs this is a must-read.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for an elementary-school poetry unit.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book of concrete poems!

[Catherine Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful doggy read. Love the concrete poems. An excellent combination of style and words plus everything you need to know before you get a dog.

[Mallory Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book about poems about dogs. It is great for any age. It is a super cute read.

[Amanda Sithammavong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dazzling Display of Dogs has a 3.92 star rating, was published in 2011, and is a poetry book. This book has many different poems about dogs with amazing and fun graphics. I loved this book because the different visuals for each poem made the book very engaging. I would love to use this book to share with my students the different types of short poems they can write. It would be a great book to get students introduced to poetry in a fun way.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids book it was cute!

[Hannah Scully · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of poems about all shapes and sizes of dogs is certainly interesting. Each poem has an unusual shape that winds and twists around the page or into shapes that vary from a typical poem. There are many bright colors and different textured used by the illustrator to grab the reader's attention. However, while all these elements are interesting, it is really difficult to stay focused on the actual poems. They get lost in the art and style of the illustrations. As for the poems themselves, they are interesting and fun. The reader certainly would enjoy them on their own, but the overall meaning is certainly lost in the artistry. There are simply too many elements on each page, especially for poetry which can be difficult for young children.

[Claire Minor]

This book is, quite frankly, distracting and annoying to read. Franco's use of nonsense poetry was difficult to decipher. Franco attempts to fit the poems into the images, but in her efforts to do so, confuses and frustrated the reader. She does utilize rhyme and onomatopoeias to move the story along. Also, the images are creative and elaborate, using single and double page spreads.

[Cierra Garrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally picked up this book because I saw it was about dogs. I have 6 of my own at home that I absolutely love to pieces, and would have 6 more if it was up to me. I also love children's poetry, so I figured this book would surely be a success. I would use this book as an introduction to poetry in a 1st-3rd grade class. There are many shape poems incorporated throughout the book, which makes it even more entertaining for the readers. Using an entertaining book like this sets the tone that poetry can be fun! One thing I would do with the students is have them each pick out their favorite dog poem. There are 37 different ones, so each child has a variety to pick from. After they selected their poem, I would have them go through and pick out all of the figurative language they found through out it. Then, I would have them write one or two of their own pieces of figurative language based on the dog they chose. For example, "slobbery, sloppy, slimy, sphere-oh, tennis ball" could be "My dog is like a maniac with his scummy, slushy tennis ball." I think the students would love getting to pick out a dog that they feel suits them the best, followed by getting to personalize it just a bit more by coming up with their own versions of figurative language. Using a topic, such as dogs, in which most students will have at home, or at least have a positive interaction with, will start a poetry unit on a positive note.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betsy Franco and Michael Wertz team up again to celebrate the love we have for our pets: this time, they shed light on our lovable dogs. As in A Curious Collection of Cats, Franco and Wertz create playful, fun concrete poetry that is bursting with color. These poems arrange words within the illustrations, where the words gain meaning from where they are placed within the picture, and the words form part of the picture themselves.

The color leaps off the pages, and kids will love following the words, figuring out the jokes and inside meaning. Franco and Wertz share their love of dogs, whether it's a tiny Pekinese peaking out from a backpack as it travels everywhere with its owner, or it's a Bassett Hound that goes "in and out / in and out ... again and again / and again and again." In "Emmett's Ode to His Tennis Ball," the text is enclosed in a circle held firmly in the dog's mouth. It begins, "Slobbery, sloppy, slimy, sphere-oh, tennis ball, I hold you dear..."

This will delight kids (and teachers), inspiring them to combine words and images in a fun, new way. I plan on sharing them using our document camera, so the kids can see the poems projected on the screen. The visuals are exciting and draw them right into the poetry, as they figure out how to read each poem.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirty-four concrete poems celebrate the world of dogs. Using different poetic forms, Franco clearly draws on the canines she has known to describe them at their most loveable and most annoying. Here are several different breeds of dogs doing everything dogs love to do: chasing their own shadows, getting lost and found, farting during a car ride, destroying furniture, and endlessly circling in search of the right spot. In one poem, Emmett crafts an ode to his "slobbery, sloppy, slimy" but oh, so loved, tennis ball. Young readers will laugh at the hard lesson learned by Bing whose "nose now knows" the difference in flies that buzz and bumblebees that sting. The illustrations, created in pencil and through monoprints and Adobe Photoshop, are filled with vivid colors and fill each page completely. At times, the poems may be hard to read because of the illustrations and font colors, but readers will be willing to make the effort since the poems are so playful. These might be fun to read with your dog when he or she is settling down for a nap after a busy day spent with a favorite companion--you!

[Jane LoBosco · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Dazzling Display of Dogs is an extremely fun book that children and adults will love reading. This poetry book is perfect for children in a young classroom. The book is so well written, yet a bit tricky to follow due to the shape of the poems. All of the poems are worked into illustrations that have to do with the poem itself. I found this book a little bit confusing, yet also very interesting as it covers the topics of various dogs. Dogs are definitely a topic that children love to hear about, and they all will want to chime in about their own dogs. Kids will absolutely love the illustrations, and will love to follow along with the poems.

This book of poems will be a great read for young kids. They will love that they can follow the poem shape, and it will be a great for them to interact with the story. I believe that this story would be a wonderful introduction to poetry book. If students can see that poems can be fun and exciting, they will love to dive into poetry unit. Ensuring that poems are full of exciting material will allow students to fully know and understand poetry. I think that this book of poems would be best suited for students in Pre-K to 2nd Grade.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betsy Franco's often goofy and sweet poems are fun to read. Some have really great cadence:

"Old Jimbo Claims the Chair"
The chair with the ruffly trim
was always off limits to Jim,
till he chewed it to bits,
made it threadbare with slits-
now no one sits on it but him.

Franco keeps the collection from being too saccharine and rhyme-dependent by also using several different styles. One of my favorite's is her haiku:

"Dog Haiku"
Labrador puppy
piddles on The Daily Post
such watered-down news.

However, Michael Wertz's quirky and colorful illustrations are what make this book truly engaging. Bright primary colors bring these canine characters to life, while the worlds wrap, twists, and travel across the pages, as appropriate for each singular poem.

Not your average read-aloud. The text - and the letter shapes themselves - can get a bit jumbled up at points, so it might be too difficult for independent reading. But the sounds and the introduction to different rhyming patterns would be fun for one-on-one reading or in a elementary class.

[Bridget R. Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like dogs, this is the book for you. In cleverly constructed concrete poems and bright illustrations, you'll meet more dogs than you can imagine.

What I thought: With her A Curious Collection of Cats, Franco introduced me to the fun world of concrete poems. Her second collection of concrete poems didn't disappoint me. Fun is the perfect word to describe it. Kids will love reading the poems and admiring the illustrations. My favorite poems are "Pug Appeal," Jake the Jack Russell Terrier," Bubbles," "Dog Haiku," and "Miss Olive's Teddy Bear." The illustrations are bright, colorful, and utterly appealing. My favorite illustrations are "Bubbles," "Crazy Combo," "Circling Poem I," and "Perkins' Tail."

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the concrete poems in this volume are fabulously done, others less well put-together. Nonetheless, it's a wildly colorful and creative group of poems. Certain poems really lend themselves to the concrete form (Baloo Got Out, Emmett's Ode to His Tennis Ball, Dog Haiku), while others are just kind of there (Pug Appeal, When Lucy the Cat Came to My Home). Many of the illustrations are so busy that it's difficult to get through the poem (Old Lottie on a Walk, Old Jimbo Claims the Chair). As a complete collection, I'm not too wild about the book - but I do like many of the individual pieces/illustrations.

[Sarah VanDyke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay for me because it was very confusing to read. I appreciate the creativity the author and illustrator did in making the text involved with the illustrations. However, I did not like how it made the text difficult to read and how it was shaped into circles and patterns. I feel it took away from the text. The book did include different styles of poems such as an haiku. I learned there can be times where illustrations can take away from the experience of reading of the text. However, some of the poems that were not too distracting could be used in the classroom. I did like the poem "Letting Gwen In and Out." The poems could be relevant for children who have dogs as pets.

[Madison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This picturebook is all poems and is all about different dogs and different activities that they usually partake in. Each poem follows a separate dog and shows them doing things such as attending obedience school, eating, and just living their life.

The illustrations in this text are very overwhelming and cover the entire page. They are done with paints and there is no white space- every bit of it is taken up. Often times it was difficult for me to read the text considering how loud the illustrations were.

This picturebook was very unique and there was a lot going on. Many times during the book I felt overwhelmed by the combination of the text and the illustrations.