LOVE'S A SWEET

Affectionate poems culminate in a labor of love from the Watsons. The poems have the same verve and catchiness as nursery rhymes: ""Charley spilled the coffee, Charley spilled the tea, Charley broke the dinner plate, And all for the love of me."" Fuzzy golds and blues color the pictures, in autumn tones of fur, firelight, and darkening skies. The playful communication between illustrations and text is one of the perks of this tandem team of creators. ""Johnny O'Hare, He sleeps bare, His wife wears a nightie at night"" is less risquÆ’ than it sounds when readers discover that Johnny is a bear. The love in the poems is not always romantic; companionship and friendship are also fondly recalled.