POETRY

Singer, Marilyn. 1995. PLEASE DON'T SQUEEZE YOUR BOA, NOAH!.  Ill. by Clement Oubrerie. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
ISBN:  0805032770


PLOT SUMMARY

Animal lovers will appreciate this collection of 22 silly poems about ownership of some likely and some unlikely pets.  A few of the featured creatures include cats, dogs, frogs, fish, camels and of course, a boa constrictor: ("Be fonder of your anaconda / That's what you must do / Please don't squeeze you boa, Noah / Or he might just squeeze you.")


CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The poems vary in length and the apropos illustrations are colorful, cartoon exaggerations of pets and their owners.  In the poem about Tommy Tenkin's toad ("Ginger Jenkins liked to tease / Tommy Tenkin's toad Louise / She dressed it up in ballet clothers / And made it spin upon its toes"), the words of the poem are printed in wavy lines that mimic the hopping motion of the frog.

The rythms definitely lend themselves to reading aloud ("Remember that your guppy / Is a fish and not a puppy / You can't kiss it, you can't hug it / You can't take a leash and tug it").  A few of the rhymes are weak and awkward ("Here's my spider, big and hairy / Do you think she'd be less scary / If I said her name was Mary?").  But this weakness is compensated by the hilarious illustration:  the spider has curly blonde hair, a big smile, tickly eyelashes and red high-heel shoes!

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Booklist
"The popularity of the subject matter and the witty treatment Singer gives it should ensure a brisk checkout record."


CONNECTIONS

*Other books by Marilyn Singer:
QUIET NIGHT (2002) ; CITY LULLABY (2007) ; EGGS (2008) ; I'M YOUR BUS (2009)

*Invite children to create drawings of their ideal pets, and have a two-dimensional pet show.