Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry by Joyce Sidman

Sidman, Joyce. Illustrated by Michelle Berg. Meow Ruff: A Story in Concrete Poetry. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.

ISBN: 9780618448944

“Meow Ruff: a Story in Concrete Poetry” is a poetry book unlike any that I’ve ever seen.  Concrete poetry is a poetic form in which the words of the poem are positioned into shapes which are used to convey the meaning of the poem itself.  Throughout the pages of “Meow Ruff” the trees, grass, and clouds are all formed by words.  All of the animals in the book are solid illustrations which interact with the concrete poetry setting.  This book is carefully produced for young children.  A child who could not read the print on the pages would still be able to comprehend what is happening in the story.  A dog gets loose from a house and someone has abandoned a cat.  The story follows the common belief that cats and dogs are enemies.  Upon meeting, the cat and dog appear to dislike one another but eventually are brought together by the rain.  The cat and dog escape the rain together under a table and fall asleep.  After the rain stops, the pair seems to realize that they could be friends!

The words on the pages blend seamlessly into the illustrations.  Each cloud has an individual size, shape, and poem; this is an illustration that each cloud shown is different.  Sidman has managed to create motion on the pages of her book this way.  The tree in the poem has the same poem until it begins to rain.  As the rain falls from the cloud onto the tree, the words of the poem illustrate the wind changes that a storm would naturally bring.

Before the rain, the tree poem reads:

E  a  c  h

L    e    a    f

A    m  a  p    o  f

B    r    a    n    c    h    e    s

E   a   c   h             t   w   i   g

A            b     r     a     n     c     h

O       f           l      e       a       v       e       s

E     a     c     h          b     r     a     n     c     h

A      t    r    e    e      o    f      t    w    i    g    s

E    a    c    h        t    r    e    e

A       g    r    e    e    n

H   a   i   r   e   d

S   l  i   m

C h e s t e d

G  r  e  a  t

                            H e a r t e d  g n a r l-a r m e d

S  t  r  o  n  g

L e g g e d

Deep-rooted

O   n   e

Once the clouds begin to rain, the poem reads:

E  a  c  h

l    e    a    f

D i p p i n g   and   d a n c i n g

E   a   c   h      t   w   i   g

T     h     r     a     s     h     i     n     g

A    n    d           p    l    u    n    g    i    n    g

E    a    c    h         b    r    a    n    c    h

B   e   n   d   i   n   g      t   o      s   h   o   w

S    i    l    v    e    r    y

U    n    d    e    r    s    i    d    e

A   n   d

T   h   e

S   l   i   m

C h e s t e d

G  r  e  a  t

H e a r t e d 

                              S  t  r  o  n  g   g n a r l-a r m e d

L  e  g  g  e  d

Deep-rooted

O     n      e

S  w  a  y  s

S l i g h t l y

I’ve attempted to recreate the concrete shape of a tree here, however, Sidman’s version is much more effective in the pages of “Meow Ruff.”  If I were to introduce this book to the class; I would first introduce the form of concrete poetry.  After reading/looking through the book, I’d ask the students how the concrete poetry added to understanding the story.  As an activity, I’d have each student think of a simple object.  If the students have trouble thinking of objects, I’d ask them to think about the objects in the story (a table, a cloud, a tree, etc.).  Once the students choose the object, I’d ask them to write it at the top of the page.  Next, I’d ask them to begin describing the object in various ways: what the object looks like, what purpose the object serves, what the object does, how the object is used, etc.  Once the activity is complete the students will have written their very own concrete poem!