Bibliographic Data: Wardlaw, Lee. Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Ill. Eugene Yelchin. New York: henry Holt, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-8050-8995-0.
Summary:
Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku, is a story told from the perspective of a narrating cat, from his time in a shelter to adoption. The stories are actually told in senryu, which is similar to haiku in structure. The story is humorous, playful, sweet, much like Won Ton.
Poetic Elements:
Wardlaw uses many different poetic elements in this book. The fact that the entire story is written by stringing together thirty consecutive senryu is a miraculous feat. What is even more astounding is that it does not seem that the story has to sacrifice any of its quality in order to keep up with the highly regimented form. She also utilizes numerous other poetic elements, such as; Anthropomorphism (Won Ton is a cat!), alliteration (Bed./Bowl./Blankie.), onomatopoeic language (yip, bark), and repetition (letmeoutletme/outletmeoutletmeout/wait-let me back in!) which is humorously used five times. The illustrations by Eugene Yelchin pair with the haikus perfectly, and add even more color and whimsy to the tales.
Connection:
As Vardell tells us in “Poetry Aloud”, haiku is the form of poetry least enjoyed by children. Won Ton would surely be a book that could sway this opinion. Also, this would be an excellent time to start teaching children about the importance of adopting strays, and spaying and neutering pets in order to cut down on homeless animals. A wonderful activity to connect children to this type of poetry would be for them to write haikus in the voice of their pets, or the pets they hope to adopt in the future.
Spotlight Poem:
Summary:
Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku, is a story told from the perspective of a narrating cat, from his time in a shelter to adoption. The stories are actually told in senryu, which is similar to haiku in structure. The story is humorous, playful, sweet, much like Won Ton.
Poetic Elements:
Wardlaw uses many different poetic elements in this book. The fact that the entire story is written by stringing together thirty consecutive senryu is a miraculous feat. What is even more astounding is that it does not seem that the story has to sacrifice any of its quality in order to keep up with the highly regimented form. She also utilizes numerous other poetic elements, such as; Anthropomorphism (Won Ton is a cat!), alliteration (Bed./Bowl./Blankie.), onomatopoeic language (yip, bark), and repetition (letmeoutletme/outletmeoutletmeout/wait-let me back in!) which is humorously used five times. The illustrations by Eugene Yelchin pair with the haikus perfectly, and add even more color and whimsy to the tales.
Connection:
As Vardell tells us in “Poetry Aloud”, haiku is the form of poetry least enjoyed by children. Won Ton would surely be a book that could sway this opinion. Also, this would be an excellent time to start teaching children about the importance of adopting strays, and spaying and neutering pets in order to cut down on homeless animals. A wonderful activity to connect children to this type of poetry would be for them to write haikus in the voice of their pets, or the pets they hope to adopt in the future.
Spotlight Poem: