A CITY IS

Greenberg’s bright, populous Brooklyn and Manhattan street scenes bustle with energy, buoying this undistinguished gathering of posthumously published snippets from poet/playwright Rosten. Written in plain, broken-cadenced language, the choppy poems celebrate city sights, sounds, and seasons, but don’t often rise above the level of: “ . . . the birds sing while taking a bath / in puddles and wet grass. / What fun when it rains!” The art, however, rewards repeat visits, as Greenberg, in characteristic folk-art style, follows a mother and child from their own busy Brooklyn street to South Ferry, Washington Square, Central and other parks, glimpsing along the way fire trucks and fireworks, skyscrapers and subway stations, playgrounds, bridges, and people at work or play. Visually, at least, the finest valentine to New York (or at least, two of its five Boroughs) since Kathy Jacobsen’s My New York (1993). (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)