THE WORLD TURNS ROUND AND ROUND

Classmates of various ethnicities receive gifts from their relatives in other countries. “What was sent to the brown-eyed boy / From his abuela in Mexico? / From Tapalpa came a sombrero of straw. / Oh he never saw / such a sombrero of straw / From rural Mexico.” Each spread has a new verse, picturing the relative in a framed landscape on the left, and a spot illustration of the child wearing the gift on white background on the right. Weiss has lifted the verse structure and pattern whole from a Bertolt Brecht lyric to a Kurt Weill song, “Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?,” which is unattributed here. Though children will not likely know this, adults may balk (especially as Weill’s haunting but dirge-like music doesn’t suit Weiss’s cheerful theme—there is no music in this book). Her verses are sometimes lilting, but sometimes awkward, breaking the rhythm entirely. She depicts her characters simply and effectively in richly vibrant color-pencil illustrations. The final page includes a map and a glossary of foreign terms. Despite its slightness and occasional clumsiness, this has obvious tie-ins for teachers building units on ancestry or geography, and would be suitable for classroom use. (Picture book. 4-7)