Lunch Box Mail and Other Poems

Jenny Whitehead, Elsa Knight Bruno. Henry Holt & Company, $16.95 (48pp) ISBN 978-0-8050-6259-5

Not only does Lunch Box Mail: And Other Poems by Jenny Whitehead compare ""The 1st Day of School"" with ""The 179th Day of School,"" but it offers many other poems that capture the joys and woes of childhood. The illustrations add humor as in ""Ways to Hide a Bad Haircut"" where a girl ""practice[s] good posture"" as she balances books on her head. (July)

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