THE GOOCH MACHINE

In these ``Poems for Children to Perform,'' young readers may first elect to scratch their heads: ``Alien Eyes?'' is about looking into another planet's sky; ``The Homework Guarantee'' covers procrastination; and ``Butterfly Fire'' trumpets something about ``the flame of poet-fire/When it burns in children's eyes.'' Budding dramatists can take hints from the chubby-face children who cavort through Ellis's sprawling cartoon scenes; these are usually light in mood, although the image of a man sweating over his taxes is a dismal take on ``Dad's Greatest Fear''—``that someday/I'll grow up just like him.'' Bagert's occasional proficiency, as in ``The Food Cheer''—``Carnivores! Carnivores!/We eat meat!/Herbivores! Herbivores!/Plants taste sweet!''—doesn't alter lesser, more pedestrian fare; next to books such as Jean Marzollo's Pretend You're A Cat (1990), the acting-out potential seems indirect at best. (Poetry. 7-9)