This wacky, wild and sometimes witty collection of verse and illustrations will not disappoint Brown’s many fans. There’s plenty of wordplay here, and even some tongue twisters (“Stealthy thieves / in thick wool caps / collect antiques / in thick cloth sacks”). Fourteen brief poems share similar cadences and employ mainly rhymed couplets and some near rhymes (“The mark of our intelligence / is how we treat the elephants”). The acrylic paintings that accompany the poems are done in appropriately vegetal, soupy hues and feature the illustrator’s characteristic childlike perspective and sense of fancy. A tattletale “Egret” spills the speaker’s secret to a tree full of other birds, beaks all flapping to pass the gossip along. Beyond whimsy, there is no apparent thematic unity to the collection, but Brown’s playfulness with language provides food for thought as well as “soup for breakfast,” and may inspire readers to attempt their own terse verse. (Poetry. 4-8)
