TOMIE DEPAOLA'S BOOK OF POEMS

A pleasant, undemanding collection of 86 poems, most of them already familiar, in large format with generous use of white space. The arrangement is rather loose—there are some morning poems to begin with, and both the end of the year and the end of the day come at the end of the book—but there's no real subject access. While his illustrations are decorative and accessible, dePaola has not extended the poems' meanings; in many cases, he is content merely to picture a pensive speaker—at least he can't be faulted for intruding on the listener's imagination! These are good, popular poems from the usual obvious sources, and this makes an attractive collection for browsing or sharing with a young child.