FLANNEL KISSES

A rhyming poem for the very young contrasts the warmth of indoor meals and clothing with the snowy arena of outdoor play. From flannel sheets and cold floors to dry socks and slippery snowsuits, Brennan lines up two-word and three-word pairings in a basic rhyme scheme to form a small patchwork poem: ``Pile snowballs/Small on fat./Crown icy head/With fuzzy hat'' chronicles the building of a snowman. A single snowy day is the book's focus—the action consists of bundling and unbundling, warming up and freezing over again, from breakfast to bedtime. The tone is intentionally sweet and the watercolor pictures equally cozy, depicting braided rugs with sock monkeys strewn on the floor, and an ice-carved stove and tree-trunk table outdoors. Alternately frolicsome and homey, this is pleasant, but without the simple wonder found in Ezra Jack Keats's wintry classic, The Snowy Day (1963), as Peter drags a stick through the snow. (Picture book. 2-4)