TODAY IS SATURDAY

"There's nothing sloppier, slipperier, floppier./ There's nothing slickier, stickier, thickier,/ There's nothing quickier to make grown-ups sickier,/ Trulier coolier,/ Than wonderful mud." The "Poem to Mud" is one of the more viable offerings in this collection of short poems, each accompanied by a photo or two showing just what's supposed to be happening, which leaves no room for individual imagination. Often the images tend to be dreamy and wistful in a way nine- and ten-year-olds don't usually take to: "the wrinkling sand is only a skin,/ A thin, thin skin,/ Between the world and me." On the other hand, "What a Ride" and "What If?" have dependable rhythms for reading aloud and most will grasp the irony of "The One Who Holds the Flag." Poems of varying appeal in a frame that limits reference.