STANZA

What’s a dog to do when his talent is decidedly un-canine, especially when his brothers, Dirge and Fresco, are bullies of the highest degree? Stanza has a problem. He loves to write poetry and he knows if his brothers ever discover his secret writing room or piles of poetry, he’ll be in a doggone mess. But when the opportunity to write a four-line poem for a contest grabs his fancy he throws caution to the wind and pens a snappy piece. Of course, he is discovered and things look bad for our hero, but the reward for second place is better than Stanza or his teasing brothers ever expected. Davis’s hilariously busy watercolor illustrations, complete with graphic elements like speech bubbles and dream sequences, are a neat match for Esbaum’s rhythm and rhyme, though it’s distinctly odd to see the clothed, anthropomorphized pups “nipping bottoms.” Young writers and poets may well enjoy watching Stanza’s creative process, however, and might even be inspired to write poems of their own. (Picture book. 3-7)