Kites Sail High: 5

Heller's newest concept book explicates and celebrates verbs of all kinds, in ebullient verses which themselves sail and soar. As in her previous works, the verses are accompanied by bold, gaily colored graphics that are especially striking for their skillful use of pattern and design. More ambitious in scope than her earlier books, however, this one attains a level of textual and conceptual complexity that may, by the end, leave its intended audience behind. The adroit but increasingly difficult verses addressing such points as tense, mood and voice may be of more interest to a parent or teacher than to a child, for whom the book's simpler, beginning pages are likely to hold more direct appeal. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)