LOOK! LOOK! A STORY BOOK

Does a sound said then and again and again tempt a child to read when it doesn't lead but around and around into the ground? On that principle are constructed the tales of ""a dog named Jones"" (""And Jones loved bones""); ""The Cat and the Bat"" and the mat (and repeatedly ""That's that""); ""Harry"" who had a hat and a coat and a cat and a goat (who themselves had a hat and a coat). ""The Mouse and His Friend"" comes close to the end of rhyme but not to the threshold of reason: a mouse says something, he says to say ""Something,"" he and his friend say something once, something twice. . . and the best the tonguetied girl can do is think 'mice are nice.' Uninspired nonsense.