ZOO’S WHO

“A puffin loves stuffin’ / Its bill full of fishes. / It fills it with seven / Or eight if it wishes. / It always finds dishes / Of fishes delicious. / A puffin loves stuffin’ / Its bill full of fishes.” Florian pun-ishes his legions of fans with 21 more occasions for zoological wordplay, admiring Bush Baby’s “bushy tush,” observing the behavior of penguins in “penguindy weather,” concluding that one good tern deserves another, and so on—shaping or otherwise altering many of the verses, and pairing each to a typically witty construct of paint and found objects. For gales of laughter, read the poems aloud; for chuckles of amusement, linger over the pictures—either way, Florian demonstrates as well as any writer or artist ever has the simple joys of playing with language and imagery. (Poetry. 6-10)