THERE WAS A MAN WHO LOVED A RAT

This mother-daughter collaboration pairs 14 verses of four lines each to comically serious illustrations originally drawn on paper plates. The poems are limericks in content, if not form: “There was a man who lived in Sydney / who found a large abandoned kidney. / And at a loss of what to do, / he slowly stuffed it in his shoe.” Each round picture interprets the facing text (which is also in a round frame) literally, and is drawn in a heavy, fluid ink line with single-color highlights; most of the figures add to the hilarity by scowling or looking dismayed at the surreal situations in which they find themselves. Fans of Shel Silverstein will find themselves on familiar ground here, both verbally and visually—even readers with short attention spans or an aversion to poetry will happily chuck this down like the bonbon it is. (Poetry. 7-10)