Comic verse for children is a well-practised art in Canada these days, and Loris Lesynski’s Dirty Dog Boogie is a jolly, child-friendly addition to the genre. Lesynski has not only supplied funny drawings to bounce around her verses, with ongoing comic-balloon commentaries by the dirty dog of the title, but has also hand-lettered many titles and parts or all of many verses. Enlarged bold words in the middle of lines suggest what to emphasize, helping readers find and stress the rhythm of the lines. The lettering is also used to draw our attention to some of the jokes – word play with puns, scrambled letters, and so forth. Most pages are lively and appealing, but the approach occasionally leads to visual confusion, as when the muddy dog footprints overlap the print, making it hard for kids to distinguish letters. The limitation of the illustrations to two colours – black and blue – makes the book less immediately appealing than some brightly coloured poetry books, but since the emphasis is properly on words and language rather than on pictures, this is not a fault.

All of Lesynski’s verses are playful in mood with no real alteration of tone, as there was in Dennis Lee’s groundbreaking early poetry books for children, where a few more thoughtful poems among the comic verses suggested the deeper dimensions that poetry can touch. On the other hand, Lesynski is resourceful in her use of different rhythmic patterns: the verses never risk monotony but play with different beats. Throughout the book she stresses the connection of poetry to the pleasures of music and movement. Her subjects are those that immediately grab the attention of young children: dirty pets, fluff between the toes, fidgets, monkeys, and spelling troubles, gaily interspersed with lots of sheer nonsense and silliness.