RIDDLE RHYMES

A fun book that coaxes listeners to identify the subject of a short poem. Who is found on the ground right in front of you? What lifts kites and sails boats and makes nary a sound? What looks just like you do and must be forgiven if it stares? The poems beg for an animated reading, then for an expectant pause before the last line reveals the answer. Best of all, the answers aren't pat, but require readers to make modest connections. Ghigna (Tickle Day, 1994, not reviewed, etc.) has made some of his delicate concoctions a bit sweet (``I'm bigger than a basketball./I'm light and rather round./I string along at party time./I'm Happy Birthday bound.''), but they provide ample give-and-take for children trying to guess the answers. Gorton has created airbrushed illustrations with the feel of 1920s travel posters; these are sculpted but childlike and serve as generous, warm-hearted clues to the poetic puzzles. The answers will quickly become rote, but the poems are worth reading again and again, for their simple, decent imagery and child-size insights. (Picture book. 3-7)