All Kinds of Kisses

Swain (Gifted) invites readers to contemplate the types of kisses 11 animals might bestow on each other, based on their distinctive mouths, beaks, tongues, and jaws. A grasshopper's mouth, for instance, is "like scissors for chopping up leaves.... How would a grasshopper kiss?" Swain's text sticks to a rhythmic cadence that's easy to fall into, though her rhyme schemes are less consistent. What is consistent is the tenderness between the adult animals and their offspring, as captured in Henry's (It's Raining Bats & Frogs) rough-edged, mid-20th-century-retro portraits. A closing spread offers additional details about the sun bears, porpoises, chubsuckers, and other featured creatures. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. Illustrator's agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Dec.)

This review has been corrected; the illustrator's previous book was cited with the wrong title.