YOU AND ME: Poems of Friendship

Mavor (Mary Had a Little Lamb, 1995, not reviewed) applies her intricate fabric relief artwork to a series of poems about friendship by Jack Prelutsky, Langston Hughes, Judith Viorst, Lucille Thomas, Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Nikki Giovanni, Aileen Fisher, Lucille Clifton, and others. In a realm in which acorn caps are used as tidy doll-sized berets, Mayor's highly detailed applique, embroidery, wrapping, dyeing, soft sculpture, and found-object art displays an admirable range of peoples--including the four-legged friends many consider part of the family, a situation cleverly recognized in Arthur Guiterman's poem ""Chums."" The selection of poems has child-appeal; the illustrations require close scrutiny, and may entice into the fold those who don't usually read poetry.