"The rich language, rhyme, and rhythm of the text make this an engaging story for preschoolers and a logical choice for new readers too, who might try writing their own 'High Song' sequels. (Picture book. 3-6)"
Merriam (Where's That Cat, 2000, etc.) has a poet's gift for the sort of lively language play that delights young children with just a few well-chosen words, such as "Heels / Wheels / Flippery seals and slippery eels."
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The late poet's long-time editor completed this puzzle book about Jitterbugs, a tiger-striped cat who leads a girl on a merry chase out the door and around the neighborhood.
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"Readers will delight in the antics of a bright yellow butterfly that joins the class on the eighth rose and remains on hand until the bouquet is presented to Ms. Jones. (Picture book. 3-6)"
PLB 0-06-027888-9 Hot pink and lipstick red swirls on the endpapers set the tone for this eye-catching counting book.
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"The heavy stock used in the book's production will likely withstand rigorous and multiple flips of the flaps. (Picture book. 3-6)"
In yet another reworking of an old title (see Zolotow, below), Merriam's 36-year-old rhymed guessing game shows no signs of its age: Decked out in Phillips-Duke's colored, high-contrast artwork and fold-out pages, it is as fresh as ever.
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The Inner City Mother Goose ($16.00; May 1, 1996; 70 pp.; 0-689- 80677-9): First published in 1969, Merriam's collection of urban rhymes has not only held its power, but some of the pieces are even more resonant.
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"A real attention- getter, this book looks as harsh and raucous as it sounds. (Picture book. 2-5)"
An in-your-face version of a 1966 action poem, with a retro look and feel (do demolition crews still use pickaxes and sledgehammers?).
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``Happy'' is the right word for these 25 deftly constructed poems about childhood pleasures: sounds, making faces (``How to Be Angry'': ``Scrunch your eyebrows/up to your hair,/pull on your chin/and glare glare glare...''), animals, weather, food, riddles, counting, day's end.
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"Still, this small addition to a distinguished oeuvre can be used as a concept-extender or as inspiration for similar lists, while the words benefit from Hamanaka's visualization: spare, boldly rendered compositions, glowing with luminosity and richly saturated color. (Picture book. 4-8)"
The late poet lists quiet things—``Invisible writing of butterflies''; ``Bare feet on the dewy grass at dawn''; ``Moonlight making a checkerboard on a brick wall''; etc.—more like notes for a poem than a finished work, since the language isn't especially evocative and choices such as stars, snow, milkweed, or giraffes aren't particularly unusual.
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The late poet continued and commemorated her love affair with words in this mixture of new and old verses, the latter from out-of-print sources.
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"Not a standout, but attractive and usable. (Picture book. 2-7)"
From the late poet, an unrhymed alphabet in which every line suggests the drowsy time before dreamland: ``Jugglers have put aside their jiggling, jouncing balls'' or ``Waves wash over the shore with a hush, shush, shhh....Xebecs are slowly sailing in the Mediterranean mist.'' The subjects aren't exceptional, but Schwartz depicts them with precision and affection, including a gently rounded capital letter in each carefully structured illustration.
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