CITY NOISE
by Karla Kuskin & illustrated by Renee Flower
A young girl holds a tin can to her ear and hears an ocean of city sounds: ``Squalling/Calling/Crashing/Rushing/...Cars and garbage/Reds and greens/Girls and women/Men/Machines....'' Kuskin (Patchwork Island, p. 847, etc.) describes the city as a vibrant, chaotic place, but she adds occasional touches of humanity. The lines ``Getting/Giving'' are accompanied by a picture of a woman handing food to a homeless person. Flower's paintings provide so much visual blare and crash that Kuskin's brief poem is almost lost beneath them. In crowded, neon-bright cityscapes, nearly every building has a face, animal-headed trucks grimace aggressively, and the streets heave and roll with energy. The artist's picture-book debut makes an excellent lead-in to McMullan's Noisy Giants' Tea Party (1992) or Zelinsky's classic The Wheels on the Bus (1990). An exuberant poem that captures the hubbub of urban life. (Poetry/Picture book. 3-6)