Dogography : the amazing world of letter art dogs by Maree Coote
Melbournestyle Books, 2020. ISBN: 9780648568414.
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Drawings of every kind of dog
imaginable made from letters, upended or sideways, right side up or
back to front, will intrigue and amuse younger readers, as they seek
out how the letters are used to create each animal. The front cover
invites the reader to further explore the delights of the pages
inside as it shows a dog's face; ears made from the letter A, eyes
from U, nose from a K, a J making its jaw line and the letter L its
collar with an E for the buckle.
Some readers will work out what sort of dog is pictured, using the
letters shown, and see that the whole book is made up this way: each
dog's name is writ large using the fonts also used in the image,
encouraging readers not only to check out spelling and letters but
also fonts.
What person could resist working out how each letter is used, or
searching for all the letters on each face, playing a game with
friends to make one up themselves, or having a competition to find
out how many letters are used for one face. Ideas flow looking at
each page, endless possibilities crowd in, as each page prompts a
laugh and a chuckle. The images created reveal each dog's
characteristics encouraging further interest and discussion. And on
each page too, is a pair of rhyming lines introducing the animal,
making sure that the readers predict what the rhyming word will be.
Kids will have a great time with this funny book which lures the
reader into using their imaginations to work out how the animal is
drawn and how the letters are used. Kids will want to try it out for
themselves, so have plenty of dog books on hand for them to try out
the technique. While having fun, the book promotes the skills of
spelling, letter and word recognition, design and art appreciation
and a heightening of the imagination. Subtitled, The Amazing
World of Letter Art Dogs, no one will be able to resist
picking it up from the display shelf.
Maree Coote is an award winning designer/author/illustrator who runs
Melbournestyle Gallery in South Melbourne, is a founder of
Melbournestyle Books, and promotes Melbourne in much of her work.
Themes: Dogs, Letters, Animals, Humour, Imagination, Graphic design,
Alphabet art.
Fran Knight