The Hornbeam Tree and Other Poems

Veteran author Norman offers 19 glistening poems about birds and animals. He is thoughtful and precise, amused at the antics of the animals at the zoo and reverent when confronted by the wind ``that did not come from anywhere'' in the Hornbeam Tree. A small squirrel is called the ``White Friar'' that begs ``for his daily bread''; the nuthatch ``makes an upside-down descent . . . / Tail pointing up to higher things.'' The birds at the feeder ``like clowns on a trapeze,'' glance ``with delight'' at the poet ``standing there/ Enraptured at the sight.'' Rand's painterly watercolors beautifully evoke the images of the poems, especially when he portrays birds: yellow finches ``slumming among the flowers'' or the flurry of chickadees masquerading as ``white-cheeked pierrots'' in winter. All ages. (April)