THE BEST WORST POET EVER

An interspecies war of verse!

An orange-and-white cat channels Shakespeare, feathered quill in paw, while his creative nemesis—a pug—clacks away at a green typewriter. The origin of the two foes’ conflict isn’t quite clear, but they battle in rhyming couplets, haiku, and galloping verse. “I hope it shan’t disturb you that I plan to write some poems today,” Cat begins. “I hope it ‘shan’t’ disturb you, Cat, that I intend to do the same,” Pug retorts. The ensuing scansion and prosody are remarkable, making for a truly rollicking read-aloud with extreme emotional highs. Both animals are fat and joyous, Cat’s dignity neatly offset by Pug’s crude hilarity: “Can I write a poem with my butt? / I don’t know! / Oh can I write a poem with my butt? / Here I go!” In the illustration, Pug’s fuzzy posterior hovers above the typewriter. There are even some moments of poetic instruction toward the end, when the two animals reconcile their differences and collaborate: “If a line is too long… / then we can enjamb it! / If a rhyme’s almost rhyming… / it’s not wrong; it’s just slanted!” It starts to drag in the middle, as this is slightly longer than an average picture book, but there’s plenty of humor and energy to keep audiences large and small enthralled.

Delightful.