A New England Scrapbook: A Journey Through Poems, Prose, and Pictures

Brief descriptions, lively verse by a handful of poets and, most importantly, Krupinski's (illustrator of Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here ) stunning art together answer the question ``What is New England?'' Each spread focuses on a characteristic associated with the region, such as old stone walls, barns, maple syrup, fog, lobster and lighthouses. The poetry is well matched to Krupinski's gouache and colored-pencil illustrations--pleasing composites of the primitive and the polished--which evoke scenes in all six New England states. ``The fog comes in with a big sound / Made of small sounds from all around,'' begins a poem by Susan Nichols Pulsifer, found alongside a soothing picture of a pale, fog-enshrouded porch on Block Island. In striking visual contrast, the next spread shows a girl picking cranberries in a deeply hued Cape Cod bog, aptly described in the opening lines of Nancy Dingman Watson's accompanying verse: ``In Cranberry Bog / I sit on a log / and dabble my toes in a ditch / and consider the cranberry crimson and pink / and purple and plummy and rich.'' Krupinski takes the reader on an edifying and enjoyable excursion. All ages. (May)