LOVE LETTERS

A collection of love poems spoken in the distinct voice of a sibling, schoolmate, student, playmate, secret admirer, and even the self. First-person narrators find expression in short, unrhymed verses that sensitively reveal their innermost thoughts and hidden yearnings. A student who signs his poem ``First Seat First Row'' is the awkward, bumbling admirer of ``Ms. Back Row''; a quiet-as-a- mouse pupil admires a teacher; a grandson finds himself full of love for a grandmother; even ``when all your [cookie] jars are empty.'' Every poem is an imagined, would-be valentine, full of hope, that satisfies readers when it finds its way to the intended, and breaks their hearts when it is rejected or rebuffed. Desimini's mixed-media illustrations make artful use of sculptured models, collages, oil paintings, photographs, and computer graphics: A cut- paper mouse bashfully hides under a desk, a snowman with a basketball for a head awaits a game of one-on-one, and a hard- working Mr. Potato Head father snores on the couch, loved offstage by a son wearing earplugs. Every spread stands alone, a vignette of immeasurable emotion. (Picture book/poetry. 6-10)