LITTLE LOVE SONG

In sprightly doggerel, a lighthearted blend of fresh images (""My darling's eyes are as bright as tea""), and more colloquial passages (""A witch enchanted me to be small,/for stepping upon her toes./She had her reasons, I had mine./Lousy luck, that's the way it goes""), the man-sized narrator explains about his Thumbelina-sized love, her domestic arrangements (she lives in a peanut shell), and their unique manner of getting together: ""after supping on pickles and pie,"" he dreams about her to his heart's content (never mind hers). Doubtless plenty of ladyloves will receive this six-inch-square book as a valentine; and if they don't examine the subtext too closely, it may give them joy--especially Mathers's amusing, jewel-bright illustrations. As for kids, they can enjoy the diminutive details, both as described and as depicted, without burdening themselves with any double meanings. Fine for sprucing up the Valentine's Day shelf.