Poetry Friday - My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks and Brothers

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I've had this book on my TBR list for a long time and I finally requested it from the library. It's a cute book that could easily be a fun activity with kids. My own kids loved listening to the comparisons and we started coming up with our own. 

The author takes all sorts of everyday objects and uses them to create portraits of different members of her family and then works them into her description of them, too. Here's my favorite snatch of text from My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks by Hanoch Piven.

"And then there 

is Schmutz.

I'll be honest with you...

Schmutz stinks!

Schmutz is as stinky

as an ONION.

He's as nasty 

as canned FISH,

as icky as PEPPERONI,

and as smelly as

DIRTY SOCKS."

Reading this book is a great opportunity to talk to students about using similes to describe in their writing. I love that this book combines an artwork activity and thinking about how that can link to their writing. I don't think this a book kids will soon forget so it'll be great for them to remind them of when they need to add some description to their writing.

I had so much fun with this book, I thought I would try some similes myself!

Little Bean has a spirit 

as free as a song traveling in the wind.

Peanut has a soul

as thoughtful as a gentle giant.

Little Bean has a face that lights up

as bright as the morning sun.

Peanut has a laugh

as pure as a bubbling stream.

Brothers

as proud as superheroes 

zipping across the sky,

as wild as monkeys 

swinging through the jungle,

as sticky and sweet 

as the gooey chocolate and melty marshmallow 

in a campfire s'more.