A Curious Collection of Cats

A Curious Collection of Cats

Author	Betsy Franco
Illustrator	Michael Wertz
Cover artist	Wertz
Language	English
Genre	Children's poetry collection
Published	2009 (Tricycle Press)
Publication place	USA
Media type	Print (hardback)
Pages	40 (unpaginated)
ISBN	9781582462486
OCLC	881249283

A Curious Collection of Cats: Concrete Poems is a 2009 Children's poetry collection by Betsy Franco and illustrated by Michael Wertz. It is made up of concrete poems in various forms, including haiku, limerick, and free verse, that highlight various aspects of cat behaviour.

Contents

Balancing act

Shadow's dream

Tabitha's tail

A question for Scooter about squirrels

The great escape

A tomcat's yard is his kingdom

Veronica goes wide

Princess

Q-tip and Rosie

Gonzo's snack

Lenny vs. Patch

Cat haiku 1

Cat haiku 2

A tree for Sammantha

Rascal's tongue

Her royal highness

Yoga cat pose

That cat peed on my hat

Fluff is polydactyl

Bingo's birthday party

The purrfect scarf

Hot daze

Symmetricats

Ear decorations

Prickles vs. the golden retriever

Kissy kat

Swettie's groceries

Techno cat

Limerick on a leash

Cat under the blanket

Binky's kittens

Cat door

Reception

A review in Kirkus Reviews of A Curious Collection of Cats wrote "Capturing the spirit of each verse, Wertz turns a collection of otherwise unremarkable visual poems into a true treat for the eyes."[1] and The Horn Book Magazine wrote "Together, poet and artist convey the silliness of cats and their humans without ever being silly themselves".[2]

A Curious Collection of Cats has also been reviewed by Booklist,[3] School Library Journal,[4] and The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books,[5]

It is a 2012 Beehive Poetry Award nominee.[6]

References

1. "A Curious Collection of Cats". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. March 15, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
2. "A Curious Collection of Cats". Horn Book Guides. Media Source Inc. 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
3. "A Curious Collection of Cats". Booklist. American Library Association. 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2022. Once kids get the feel of how to follow the lines—up and down or in curving jumps or around the page borders––they will have fun with the playful images.
4. Teresa Pfeifer. "A Curious Collection of Cats". School Library Journal. Media Source Inc. Retrieved March 23, 2022. The poems are so embedded within the illustrations that it is hard to imagine them without the artwork; they are virtually inseparable.
5. Deborah Stevenson (July 2009). "Franco, Betsy. A Curious Collection of Cats". The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 62 (11). Johns Hopkins University Press: 442. doi:10.1353/bcc.0.1049. S2CID 145809237. Retrieved March 23, 2022. We've had a fair amount of dog poetry in the last few years, so it's only fair that cats get their turn too.
6. "Children's Poetry Nominees (2002-2019)" (PDF). claubeehive.org. The Children's Literature Association of Utah. Retrieved March 23, 2022.

External links

• Library holdings of A Curious Collection of Cats