A PLACE TO BLOOM
by Lorianne Siomades & illustrated by Lorianne Siomades
A colorful, visually appealing story-in-rhyme with an ambiguous focus: Is it about sharing the planet with other species (``The stream I like to visit/is someone's place to drink''), seeing the same thing from different perspectives (``The feather that is light for me/others cannot lift''), or recycling (``The teddy bear that showed much wear/that no one thought to mend/was thrown away the very same day/he became my very best friend!'')? Siomades's wonderfully engaging mixed-media illustrations are indebted to Eric Carle, but her writing doesn't measure up to the same high standard, e.g., there's a grammatical lapse in ``the grass I love to lay in,'' awkward meter, and forced rhyme—``The scary snake on the garden path/who doesn't look friendly. . . /is someone else's mother/who is more afraid of me!'' (Picture book. 3- 6)