GUESS AGAIN!

More than 20 clever riddles keep the pages turning as two children make their way through their days. Each two-page spread features a rhyming quatrain and an illustration that hints at the answer to the riddle. The following page offers the answer both textually and in the illustration. Unfortunately, what is a good concept fails in execution. The substitutions in meter are sometimes interesting, but overall the meter has the simplistic sing-song pattern of a greeting card. The lines also seem like they are forced in service to the rhyme, instead of letting the rhyme occur organically, in service to the narrative. Additionally, the hints drawn into each scene are too obvious, keeping it from being much of a brainteaser for even a young child. Finally, the illustrations, while colorful, are not enough to keep this book on track. At times clever, but mostly unsatisfying, this just misses its mark. (Poetry. 6-9)