for reading aloud. This homage to reading salutes all the essential elements: letters, words, books. Lewis' poetry is continually clever, whether pithily summing up children's classics (a book that is excitedly read by a kid of 6 to another kid of 63) or capturing the thrill of reading in the dark. There are laughs in a poem called What If Books Had Different Names? that posits such titles as Goodnight Noon and Green Eggs and Spam as well as slightly more serious thoughts in the title poem. Despite the picture-book format, it will take children older than the preschool crowd to appreciate the wordplay, which on occasion is quite sophisticated (Lewis credits Lear, Carroll, and X. J Kennedy as his inspirations). The acrylic and mixed-media artwork (see cover, this issue) adds whimsy to the words. Case in point, a bibbed lamb eating the Dr. Seuss special.

This strikingly original puzzle book contains three-dimensional representations of a general store, hotel, and circus, among other settings. Each scene is composed of more than one hundred everyday objects cunningly crafted to depict their surprising counterparts: a disposable razor is a vacuum cleaner; fig bars are seat cushions. Ignore the book's clunky rhymes and just enjoy the amazing scenery.

In 16 poems, all but two appearing here for the first time, the Midwest's cleverest living comic poet enjoins readers, "Please bury me in the library / With a dozen long-stemmed proses." He suggests altering classic titles (" Green Eggs and Spam "), offers reading-related haiku, a library acrostic—and even literary criticism, from "A great book is a homing device / For navigating paradise" to "A bad book owes to many trees / A forest of apologies." Stone debuts with broadly brushed, page-filling acrylics to match: Children in pj's rest beneath or teeter atop piles of books; mice and owls peruse large volumes by moon- and candle-light; an elderly, rather Seussian creature listens contentedly to a young reader. Finishing with "Acknowledgements" to "Shel and Jack and Myra Cohn," plus other "word wizards," this offering from the prolific Lewis won't stay buried long, no matter where it's planted. (Poetry. 8-10)

Despite its clever title, Lewis (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Arithme-Tickle) and Stone's combination of sentimental rhymes and at times ghoulish whimsy creates a volume of poetry about reading that may leave bookworms with a bit of indigestion. The verses range from the uplifting schoolmarmish acrostic, "Necessary Gardens" ("Libraries/ Are/ Necessary/ Gardens,/ Unsurpassed/ At/ Growing/ Excitement"), to a silly ditty about Elaine, "The Big-Word Girl": "I took her to a horror show—/ (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Godzilla Meets tooth Fairy)—/ But she could not unglue her eyes/ From Webster's Dictionary." While many of debut illustrator Stone's paintings are interesting when taken individually, they do not always capture the spirit of the poems. The boy in "Necessary Gardens," for example, seems anything but excited by the stack of books atop which he precariously perches. Children weaned on scary films may enjoy Stone's depiction of Elaine escorted by a green monster and surrounded by horrified moviegoers, but those with queasy stomachs may avert their eyes. One of the most successful pairings is the title poem, for which the artist depicts a rabbit reading by candlelight among the library's stacks. Like Lewis's previous witty verse, the poems brim with wordplay, but they sometimes seem to be aimed at adults (e.g., in "Great, Good, Bad," readers are told, "A great book is a homing device/ For navigating paradise"); children may be more at ease with the zany tone of "Summer Reading at the Beach," which features "book shovels" for sand castle construction and leisure reading. Ages 6-9. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Apr.)

Gr 2-5 A semi-swell collection of 16 poems celebrating books, reading, language, and libraries. Subjects range from Otto the Flea (who writes, of course, his Ottobiography) to The Big-Word Girl (who takes her Webster's to the movies) to Great, Good, Bad books (A bad book owes to many trees/A forest of apologies). The brief selections encompass various forms, from an eight-word acrostic to haiku to rhyming quatrains and couplets. The tone is generally light, with the last few entries turning more to wonder and metaphor (A good book is a kind/Of person with a mind/Of her own...). Usually printed one per spread, the poems are accompanied by richly dark artwork. The thickly applied acrylic paint and mixed-media illustrations are sometimes reminiscent of the work of David Shannon, with a comically grotesque air, and add comprehension to the verses. The Lewis hallmarks are all hereclever wordplay, humor, nonsense, rhymethough the collection doesn't have quite the spot-on snap of his best stuff. Kids will enjoy the switcheroos of What If Books Had Different Names? (Alice in...Underland?/Furious George...) and the faintly macabre title poem, but others, which reach a bit for even a nonsensical point, will have less appeal. Lee Bennett Hopkins's Good Books, Good Times! (HarperCollins, 1990) and Wonderful Words (S & S, 2004), which include offerings on the same subject from many fine authors, would partner in a nice balance with Lewis's frothier nonsense. Nancy Palmer, The Little School, Bellevue, WA