Poetic Tangents

In Love that Dog, the poet Walter Dean Myers appears as 
a character. Since my son liked the book and the poems, I
looked for more by Myers but found he's better known as
an award winning children's books author.
Most of his books offer too many challenges for my son,
the biggest being too few illustrations to support the story.
So I turned to his picture books and found two, one of which
my son and I liked quite a bit.
Flats Brown, talented blues playing dog, must stay one
jump ahead of his mean owner A. J. Grubbs. The story
resonates with the message that everyone needs a 
little love.
What my son liked were the song titles.
When I asked him about the book, that's what he
reeled off: "The Bent-Tail Blues," "The Mangy
Muzzle Stomp," and his and Flat's favorite,
"The Freaky Flea Blues."
Also, he remembered and liked that Myers put a
whole song in the back "The New York City Blues."
Alliteration, music, lyrics, all appeal to him.
Last night I found him reading one of his old 
picture books:

When I asked him his favorite part, he said "The -iers.
Diggier, Waggier, Flappier."
Myers book is much more sophisticated in narrative,
but both books should appeal to readers who like dogs
and/or playfully poetic prose.
-Spectrum Mom