When a Cat Lover Writes Dog Haiku Poems

Lee Wardlaw | The Children’s Book Review | April 6, 2015

To write it, it took three months; to conceive it – three minutes;

to collect the data in it – all my life.

– Anonymous

I know cats. My first spoken word was ‘kitty’. At age six, I adopted my first kitten. Since then, I’ve shared my home with 30 folks of the feline persuasion. (Not all at the same time, of course!) And I’m a card-carrying member of the Cat Writers’ Association. So creating Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku was catnip to me: easy to pounce on, play with, and write rhapsodic about.

Not so with Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku.

I’ve never owned a dog. Growing up, I knew only two: Sheba, the grumpy, elderly German Shepherd from next door who nipped at me when I attempted to sell her owner Girl Scout Cookies; and Coco, the frenzied miniature poodle with rheumy eyes who belonged to my best friend’s grandma. She would wee-wee on the carpet if you even thought about glancing at her. (Coco, not Grandma.)

Don’t get me started on strangers’ canines. (Why do their snouts always make a beeline for my crotch? I bathe. Girl Scout’s honor!)

So before I could write Won Ton and Chopstick, I actually had to do research. On dogs.

I visited lonesome pups at our local animal shelter. I talked to Friends with Dogs. I interviewed a certified animal behaviorist.

What I learned is this: dogs and cats are surprisingly similar in many ways. Here are two examples from Won Ton and Chopstick:

I play with balls, too!

But much smaller, less slobber.

And I never fetch.

Great Rats! It’s only

thunder! Who knew you were a

scaredy cat? (Like me!)

Oh, sure. Cats are self-cleaning. Dogs must be groomed. Cats speak only when they have something important to say. Dogs are happy to yip, yelp, and yowl at the drop of a mailman’s hat.

But both species—just like human siblings—feel the indignation of perceived unfairness . . . the fear of replacement . . . the heat of jealousy . . . and the loneliness that comes from uncertainty of where one stands in the family.

They also love their people.

So it seems I know a lot more about dogs than I thought. As Won Ton puts it:

Some parts of woof I

will never understand. But…

practice makes purrfect.

=^..^=

About the Author

Lee Wardlaw is the author of 30 books for young readers, including Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku, recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Children’s Poetry Award, the Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry, and the Purina/Fancy Feast “Love Story” Award. She lives in Santa Barbara with her family and her dog-disdaining cat, Papaya.

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Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku

By Lee Wardlaw; Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Publisher’s Synopsis: Won Ton has a happy life with his Boy, until…

Ears perk. Fur prickles.

Belly low, I creep…peek…FREEZE!

My eyes full of Doom.

A new puppy arrives, and nothing will be the same.

Told entirely in haiku and with plenty of catitude, the story of how Won Ton faces down the enemy is a fresh and funny twist on a familiar rivalry.

Ages 4-8 | Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. | 2015 | ISBN-13:  978-0805099874

Available Here: 

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Fun Stuff

Activity Kit for Won Ton and Chopstick:
http://www.leewardlaw.com/PDF/Won-Ton-and-Chopstick-Activity-Kit.pdf

Teacher’s Guide for Won Ton and Chopstick:
http://www.leewardlaw.com/PDF/chopstickguidefinal.pdf

Discover more books like Won Ton and Chopstick: A Cat and Dog Tale Told in Haiku, by Lee Wardlaw, by checking out our reviews and articles tagged with Haiku For Kids, National Poetry Month, and Writing Haiku.