Romeow and Drooliet

By Nina Laden

Author-artist Nina Laden has taken her trademark wit and applied it to one of Shakespeare's best-loved plays. Adults familiar with the classic love story will delight in the many references to the original play, all of which make this a rarity: a children's book they want to read again and again. And young children who know nothing of the Bard will be riveted by this funny yet touching tale about Romeow the cat and Drooliet the dog, two star-crossed lovers who meet by chance, marry in secret, and are kept apart by a snarling rottweiler, appalled owners, and the animal control warden. The clever details throughout the book belie the careful research behind this homage to true love won and lostand in the case of this book won againproving once and for all that dogs and cats can be friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chronicle Books Digital
• Release date: Sep 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452126852

Nina Laden

Nina Laden grew up in the New York City area. The daughter of two artists, she studied illustration at Syracuse University. She is the author and illustrator of The Night I Followed the Dog, also published by Chronicle Books.

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Reviews for Romeow and Drooliet

[toconn2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is a creative remake of the popular love story Romeo and Juliet. In this story, Romeow is a cat part of the Felinis family and Drooliet is a dog part of the Barkers family. Both of the families hated each other. One night Romeow and his friends snuck into a Barkers party where he met Drooliet. They fell in love a first sight. The next day they got married. While strolling in the park, their friends and family confronted the couple. A fight broke over the couple’s love and Romeow was sent to jail. While in jail, Drooliet came running over but crossed the street without looking and was struck by a car. Romeow gave Drooliet one of his nine lives so she would survive. I really enjoyed this book. This story gave a new twist on the Romeo and Juliet story in a fun and creative way. I thought it was interesting that even as a children’s book, the author did try and include Shakespearian language. For example, the author used language like “we shall meet again, dear Drooliet”. The story doesn’t overload you but only include phrases every now and then for the reader.I also enjoyed the idea of the story that different people can get along and even fall in love. For example, the story uses cats and dogs that are opposites who don’t get along but in the end find friendship with each other. Readers can learn that the people who you think you may hate, you can fall in love with.

[corzel1-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I first read the play Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare. I enjoyed the original version of this play with the underlining theme focusing on the extent people go to for love, ie. death. I found this children's book to destroy the original version of this play and took out the minor details I found important. This book does not give any backstory about the two animal clans except that they are cat and dog. If the child is young, he or she may not understand that dogs and cats are believed to not get along. There is also the possibility that the child may own a cat and a dog and the two animals get along. I felt this story did not properly depict the true story of Romeo and Juliet. Although this story was appropriate for elementary school kids. Using animals instead of people made a good wholesome twist to the story. Also by keeping Juliet and Romeo alive keeps the story kid and family friendly.

[Pablo Minier · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a great book I love it a lot you will love it

[aengolia-414725 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Romeow and Drooliet is about the story of Romeo and Juliet but in terms for a child to understand. The ending is different in that it offers a happy ending as opposed to the ending of Shakespeare's story. It adds such a funny spin to the book because when Drooliet runs across the street and is hit by the car, Romeow gives her one of his nine lives to save her! Although this book is geared towards children, this would be funny to read to high school kids before you read the actual story, just to make them laugh!

[katya0133 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

One of the big problems with giving R&J a "happy" ending is justifying why the title characters don't die in the end. This book handled the situation by cleverly having Romeow give Drooliet one if his nine lives. I thought this story was going to be incredibly cheesy, but it was actually pretty cute.

[lisabankey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Haylie Duff (Hillary's sister) reads this adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. This book nicely compares the waring clans as family of cats and a family of dogs. This helps the students better understand that the families do not get along and it also gives a better understanding how Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet could not get married since in this story a cat and a dog want to get married. I would recommend this story for upper elementary students since Drooliet gets hit by a car and Romeow gives up one of his lives to save her. This may be upsetting to younger students and they may not fully understand the 'nine lives' aspect of the storyline. A great activity would be to compare this story to Shakespear's play.Notes on the website:This is an excellent website to share with a class. It gives a summary of the book, MANY activity suggestions that encourage deeper involvement with the story itself or the themes of the story. The video is not just watching some reading. The clips are artfully edited between the actor(s) reading aloud and showing the illustrations form the book (zooming in and out and panning across the page to emphasize details). Other great features of storylineonlie.net is it easily offers a full screen option and it also offers a caption option so you can read along!!!