OUNCE, DICE, TRICE

Just where to place this book is a puzzler. Any youngster who has gone through the stage of picking up word sounds and building on them endlessly is a candidate, but at what age some of the subtleties, the plays on word sounds, the awareness of the families of words becomes a factor rests with the interested adult. Hence our placing it in the Read Aloud section, for it might possibly be used as a family game book. Starting with the simplest of related word sounds, the author goes on to rare and unusual words that can be used to trick the person who thinks he knows it all. Set this along side the books on words -- and try it there. Then try it as a starter in a story hour group. Onomatopoeia has- so far as I know- never been used for a book basis at this early age. Ben Shahn's black and white line drawings strike the sophisticated rather than the young note. All in all, the success of this book depends wholly on how an adult presents it.