Words with Wrinkled Knees: Animal Poems

Word-lovers will applaud Esbensen's unique poems, not only because they deftly describe various animals, but also because they make us notice the names by which we call them. ELEPHANT is ""a word with/ wrinkled knees and toes/ like boxing gloves,'' and OWL ``opens soundless wings/ sails out/ to where the smallest letters/ cower in the dark.'' Both text and art celebrate the connections between things and words. SNAKE ``slides/ among typewriter keys slips/ like a silk shoelace away,'' while the long-lashed GIRAFFE ``munches on the leaves/ of books lined up/ on the topmost shelves.'' Children and adults alike will enjoy Esbensen's refreshing metaphors and the many moods of Stadler's black-and-white animals.(7-12)