IF NOT FOR THE CAT

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Prelutsky, Jack. IF NOT FOR THE CAT. Illustrated by Ted Rand. New York, NY: Harper Collins. ISBN 0060596783.

SUMMARY
"Haiku describes a variety of animals" CIP.

ANALYSIS
I found this book completely charming, from Prelutsky's perfectly chosen words to Rand's precise and yet whimsical illustrations. Everything in the book seemed carefully thought out and designed to delight young readers. The book flows along quietly from riddle to riddle, the text of each poem bright and clear against the ink and watercolor illustrations. Prelutsky's teasing haikus are in each animal's point of view, and the poems are not just lists of the distinctive features or actions of the animal described. Prelutsky seems to try to truly speak from the perspective of the poem's subject, such as in the ant haiku:

"We are we are we
Are we are we are we are
Many in our hill."

He could have mentioned that ants are tiny, that they bite, that live in tunnels underground- many things make them more immediately identifiable. But a thoughtful student might understand that ants (if they think) probably don't think of themselves as tiny. They might think of themselves as legion. Prelutsky's word choices throughout the book are thoughtful and beautiful. The description on page 9, "sing with my wings" is a wonderful example figurative language. Children can see the flashing wings and hear the hum of the hummingbird. And on page 11, "undulate" and "gelatinously" might send young readers to the dictionary, in order to solve the riddle. The poetry is not dumbed down, and the language reflects the author's respect for his audience.

I also loved Rand's illustrations. On the metrics page the art is described as "a mix of sumi brush drawings in India ink, traditional watercolors, chalk, spatter, and printmaking techniques." The watercolor and ink elements are the obvious media throughout the work, but I see creative use of spatter techiniques on page 23, as ground cover for the rattlesnake, as well as swirling around the parrot, creating a sense of giddy movement, on page 25. Each technique blends seamlessly into the whole of the finished double page spread. Each animal is truly artwork.

In addition, the illustrations match the slow and peaceful progression of the haikus perfectly, and yet each double page spread is also full of detailed drama and action. The opening spread features a precisely drawn mouse in ink and watercolor, crouched on the inside edge of his shadowed hole, with the backlit snout and whiskers of a cat peaking in. Rand's subtle and controlled drawings bring tension that matches the tension of the 5-7-5 balance of the haikus.



REVIEWS
"Prelutsky shows his command of word choice through a minimalist form that is perfectly matched by Rand's control of his mixed-media artwork to create a wonderful celebration of the art of haiku. This book, like George Shannon's Spring (Greenwillow, 1996) and Dawnine Spivak's Grass Sandals (Atheneum, 1997), shows the continuity and vitality of this ancient poetic form." SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Quiet in tone and, like traditional haiku, taking inspiration from the natural world, these 17 poems express the points of view of individual animals, from mouse to moth, from skunk to crow. Each turn of the page brings a new verse, illustrated with a variety of media but primarily brushed ink and watercolors. The wide, double-page spreads offer plenty of space for illustrations, but Rand approaches the compositions with admirable subtlety and restraint in the use of color and detail, and he creates a series of dramatic scenes." BOOKLIST

CONNECTIONS
IF NOT FOR THE CAT works well as part of a poetry unit, as an example of the haiku form, or riddle poems. A fun way to involve the students during reading would be to have them guess each animal before showing the illustration. Students could participate by creating their own haikus. Traditionally these are poems about the natural world, but students could expand this and write 5-7-5 poems about any appealing or interesting things in their lives. Additionally, students could write riddle poems and have the rest of the class guess what animal or thing they're describing.