RUNAWAY OPPOSITES

These poems come from Wilbur's books Opposites (1973) and More Opposites (1991). With the same logic that children exhibit, the poems cleverly fend off the peltering demands for opposites where there are none, by creating pairs on the spot. The opposite of a laughing hyena? A weeping willow! The antithesis of two? ``A lonely me,/A lonely you.'' Drescher interprets Wilbur's poems with abandon, letting his imagination run wild with scissors, paintbrush, toys, and ink. In the paste-up ``typeface'' usually associated with ransom notes, the artist painstakingly spells out each poem, making the words an intrinsic part of the collage. Ink drawings, clip art, plastic flies, coins, family photos, letters from the publisher; all are composted into art with tape, glue, and self-referential playfulness. The left-to-right, front-to-back conventions of book-reading are no limitation to Drescher either; readers will twist and turn the volume up and down to follow the direction of the verse. Both the art and the language have a sophistication and depth that will lure readers of many ages—or, as the back jacket states, ``Not only for children.'' (Picture book/poetry. All ages)