ONCE AROUND THE SUN

A celebration of the 12 months of the year in lyric verse and colorful art. Pham’s bright illustrations resemble watercolors and use an extensive palette, and Katz’s dozen poetic paeans are accessible tumbles of imagery. September, for example, is built around the first day of school, chalk and notebooks and yellow pencils leading to the new teacher writing her name on the blackboard. Each poem also sits on a different background of an appropriate color; December a frosty blue studded with snowflakes, May a blend of greens shades, etc. Two additional two-page illustrations depict the summer (between June and July) and winter (just after December) panoramically. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts; altogether, the book portrays a friendly multicultural urban world, children sledding down a snowy hill against a backdrop of tall buildings in January, people of multiple races buying apples and turkeys at a street market in November. An attractive introduction to poetry for young readers. (Picture book. 5-9)