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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
I'm a dog lover, so of course I was interested in Mary Oliver's collection of poetry inspired by her love for dogs. I read this book in one sitting, and for the most part, I enjoyed its contents. I loved the subtle romanticization of the simple life, the quiet adoration for furry companions, the reflections on what dogs can teach us about life. Oliver's poetry is very accessible, so you might enjoy it even if you're not a poetry lover.
I also quite enjoyed the artwork by John Burgoyne. The images are mostly realistic pen and ink portraits of dogs, shaded using hatching and cross hatching. There is a significant amount of skill required to create these, so I appreciated them more than something like the simple clip art that tends to be used for poetry collections.
All that being said, I didn't rate this book a full 5 stars because I don't think Penguin makes efficient use of space. Poems are only printed on the right side and not every poem has an illustration. Thus, there is a lot of wasted space which no doubt makes the book seem longer (and thus allows them to charge more money?).
TL;DR: Dog Songs is a charming poetry collection that is sure to resonate with dog lovers and may be accessible for readers new to poetry.
I also quite enjoyed the artwork by John Burgoyne. The images are mostly realistic pen and ink portraits of dogs, shaded using hatching and cross hatching. There is a significant amount of skill required to create these, so I appreciated them more than something like the simple clip art that tends to be used for poetry collections.
All that being said, I didn't rate this book a full 5 stars because I don't think Penguin makes efficient use of space. Poems are only printed on the right side and not every poem has an illustration. Thus, there is a lot of wasted space which no doubt makes the book seem longer (and thus allows them to charge more money?).
TL;DR: Dog Songs is a charming poetry collection that is sure to resonate with dog lovers and may be accessible for readers new to poetry.
Not my favorite Oliver book--as the title suggests all the poems are about dogs...I much preferred when she was writing of moons in her Twelve Moons collection.
I really enjoyed these poems, which celebrate our four-legged friends. I also liked the book's layout, with nothing on back sides of pages, making for a calm, relaxing reading experience. Would be a great gift for a dog lover!
emotional
sad
medium-paced
sweet lil book. so many of the poems reminded me of my lil shiloh