PARTS

Stunning full-color photographs and seven playful, brief poems about everyday objects will delight young viewers and care-givers who are invited to guess the objects described in word clues with several accompanying close-up photographs. For example, “Smooth and round / with a striped green skin / Red fruit, / black seeds hidden within / Garden ripe and / ready to eat / Taste the / WATERMELON, / juicy and sweet.” The co-author/photographer of The Body Book (2000), Rotner here targets the familiar and important everyday icons of a young child’s world with carefully chosen, intimate shots that invite repeated examination. Here is the tongue of a dog, a black wet nose, a half-curled tail, spotted fur, and then the double-page portrait of the whole dog with the punch line “A loyal DOG is one great pet.” Other poems feature a tulip, school bus, bike, a child, and home. Endpapers and the back cover suggest new poems the viewer might write: showing parts of a cantaloupe, flowering tree, or fire truck. A terrific way of getting children to think about the whole by seeing the parts. Great for reading aloud, too. (Poetry. 3-8)