Dirty Dog Boogie

Alison Mews is co-ordinator of the Centre for Instructional Services at
Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Dirty Dog Boogie is an exuberant collection of child-centred rhymes that
dance in your head and bounce off your tongue, that beg to be read,
chanted, or sung aloud. The energy of the rhymes is even apparent in the
placement of text on the page and the alternation of bold and blue
fonts, which together invite exaggerated expression and emphatic
delivery. The book also works as an individual read because Lesynski has
embellished her poems with spirited cartoons that tickle the imagination
and guide it down alternate paths of possibilities. For instance, Sock
Fluff irreverently describes one child’s attachment to the stuff socks
leave behind, but the illustrations show a boy among dandelions blowing
fluff from his sock; a cowboy sheepishly shakes out his boot; and Prince
Charming, with glass slipper in hand, looks askance at Cinderella’s
toes. Lesynski encourages participation by her readers, inviting them to
“change the words, arrange the words, or rearrange the beat” and,
rather than illustrating her poem Sunpuddles, she entreats children to
do it. This book would be terrific in a classroom, allowing teachers to
have fun liberating the poet in every child. Highly recommended for both
school and home use.