If famous poets’ pets wrote poems, what would they say?

Susan Johnston Taylor writes for kids and adults. Her magazine articles have appeared in Dramatics, FACES, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Scout Life, and many others. A strong believer in the power of poetry, Susan co-teaches a summer poetry camp through Austin Bat Cave, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit that offers writing programs for kids and teens. In addition to her award-winning debut picture book poetry collection, Animals in Surprising Shades, she has written several children’s books for the educational market. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram or BlueSky.

IF PETS WROTE POEMS is a picture book poetry collection that asks, “What if famous poets had pets? Would they write poems too? What would they say if they could?” The subtitle also calls it a Parody collection as these poems are written in the style of the poets they are associated with. From Benjamin Franklin’s pet squirrel to Neruda’s poet mongoose, what a wide variety of poetic pets there are here! These poems will appeal to animal lovers as well as poetry lovers.

Welcome Susan!

Me: Can you share about your writing journey? When did you start writing? How did that bring you to being the writer and poet of this book?

Susan: I’ve been writing poetry for most of my life! I even set the Emily Dickinson poem “My Kingdom” to music in middle school. I became a full-time freelance writer in 2008, focusing on personal finance and small business coverage because that’s what was in demand at the time.

By 2016, I felt burnt out on business and personal finance, questioning how much more I had to say about mortgages or insurance. My husband urged me to try writing something–anything–else, so I said the first thing that popped into my head, “Maybe I’ll write a picture book about Sebastian,” our rescue dog. 

It seemed outlandish, because it was so different from the writing I’d been doing, but he encouraged me to explore the idea. I drafted a sweet story, but that manuscript felt too derivative to stand out. However, it started me on a journey to learning about children’s books and becoming a children’s book author. That was just one of many gifts Sebastian gave me before he passed in 2024. I dedicated If Pets Wrote Poems to him and our current dog Sadie.

Me: This is a wonderful collection of poems by pets of famous poets! What gave you the idea for this collection?

Susan: In 2021, I read in the back matter of Nancy Churnin’s picture book biography of poet Katharine Lee Bates that Bates had a pet parrot named Polonius and a dog named Hamlet. That sent me down a rabbit hole (pun intended) of research about other pet and poet pairings. There were lots of cats and dogs, so whenever a poet had multiple pets, I chose the most unusual animal for the sake of variety.

Me: Each of the poems mentions that they are “in the style of” another poem. Is that because you based them on specific poems that already existed? Did you pick inspirational poems first? Or research to find pets first?

Susan: My first step was finding poets who had a beloved pet (or at least a relationship with an animal). I’d come up with poets I thought might be interesting and Google their name + “pet” or “dog” or “cat,” etc. Lots of searches led nowhere, but I find some interesting examples, like Edgar Allan Poe and his cat Catterina, Beatrix Potter and her lizard Judy, and Charlotte Brontë’s pet goose Adelaide.

Then I’d explore the poet’s body of work. I wanted a variety of poetic styles so each poem would feel distinct and appeal to different tastes. If the subject wrote poetry about their pet or other animals, I’d start there. Then I’d read their most famous works (for instance, Poe’s The Raven) and see what might lend itself to parodying.

For copyright reasons, we didn’t include the original poems in the book, but all the poems parodied are publicly available online from various sources if a teacher wants to do a comparison with their students. 

Me: Speaking of research, can you tell us a bit about that process for this book? How long did it take you to research all the different facts and tidbits that went into this book? Any favorite discoveries or research methods?

Susan: I borrowed adult books about each poet from the library (many had written memoirs or had very detailed biographies of their life), but sometimes I still had unanswered questions, so I’d contact experts.

When I had a super-specific question about Edgar Allan Poe and the spelling of his cat’s name, I emailed the Edgar Allan Poe Museum (which I’d previously visited on vacation). And when I found a photo of Langston Hughes on a beach with a dog but couldn’t find any info on the dog’s name or verify if it was actually Langston’s dog, I contacted an academic specializing in his work. He said there’s no record of Langston having a dog and because he traveled so much, it’s unlikely he would have had one.

I really wanted to include more poets of color, which proved challenging. First, being a pet and having a pet requires a certain level of privilege that not everyone has. Also, since many past historians focused on preserving the stories of white men, we don’t know as much about the histories of women and people of color (Exhibit A: the song from “Hamilton” where Eliza burns Hamilton’s letters is a poignant dramatic moment but also explains why we know more about her husband than her).

I did include Pablo Neruda, who had a pet mongoose and has been called the Greatest Spanish language poet of his time, as well as Lucille Clifton, who didn’t have any pets as far as we know, but wrote vividly about a fox. I also included queer representation: Mary Oliver, Gertrude Stein, and Katharine Lee Bates.

I’ve also visited several places where these poets lived. It’s been years, but I remember touring Emily Dickinson’s house in Amherst, Massachusetts before I started this project. And while my husband and I vacationed in the UK, I made a point of walking to Christina Rosetti and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s former homes (within walking distance of each other in London). The buildings are now privately owned, so I didn’t go inside, but I took photos of the exteriors, including historic plaques.

My photos came in handy when I saw the illustration for Christina Rosetti and her wombat Top. The original illustration looked like the English countryside, and I understand that logic, but I sent my photos to emphasize that the Rosettis lived right in London, so we needed a more urban setting.

Me: Sandie Sonke’s illustrations are just pitch perfect. I love all of the character she brought to each pet. Were there any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?

Susan: The first poem was “written by” by my rescue dog Sadie, so it was really special seeing how Sandie portrayed Sadie’s infectious energy and her distinctive white paw. Sadie’s tail is constantly in motion, and Sandie captured that perfectly.

Me: Aww! I love that. What is one thing that surprised you in writing this book?

Susan: I knew Benjamin Franklin as an inventor and a Founding Father, but I did not know that he wrote poetry or had a pet squirrel named Mungo (and even wrote a poem about Mungo). Ben was a real Renaissance man (and given all his varied interests, possibly a fellow ADHDer)! In addition to operating a newspaper and inventing bifocals (among many other inventions), he also wrote poetry, so I wanted to include this other side of him.

Plus, how cool that he had a pet squirrel?! My first picture book poetry collection was inspired by a photo of a Malabar Giant Squirrel but the final book didn’t end up including my squirrel poem. It felt like a full circle moment to include a squirrel in my next book.

Me: Any advice for other new picture book writers or poets?

Susan: If you want to write a picture book poetry collection, then read a lot of them, especially poetry collections by Jane Yolen, Marilyn Singer, Charles Waters, and Irene Latham. You’ll likely notice that most of them choose a very specific lens or focus, such as U.S. First Ladies, dinosaurs that drive, sleeping habits of animals, or LGBTQI trailblazers. Try to find a lens or focus you’re passionate about that hasn’t been done before.

For instance, my first picture book poetry collection was Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful Creatures, so it explored animals in unexpected colors and presented the poems in rainbow order. If Pets Wrote Poems playfully reimagines famous poems as if the poet’s pet had written them and presents the poems in chronological order. I challenge your blog readers to brainstorm topics they’d like to explore through poetry and start experimenting!

That is great advice Susan. Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book is published today! Happy book birthday Susan! It’s a collection of pet poems with a new twist I haven’t seen done before that lends itself to both classroom use and those that love animals. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it.

And if you’re looking for more poetry fun this month, be sure to check out the Kidlitosphere Event Roundup!  Thank you for stopping by!