Let's Pretend

Aptly subtitled ""Poems of Flight and Fancy,'' the verses in this collection focus on imaginary things: elves and fairies, talking animals, stuffed toys that come alive and things people ``wonder about.'' Bell's detailed, light-hearted pictures are brightly coloredcartoon pigs fly above a miniature landscape and elves float in bubbles above a fairy-tale castle. Unfortunately, the paintings are infrequently spaced throughout the text, leaving the majority of poems unillustrated. And the quality of the verse varies greatly. Still, readers will enjoy such treats as ``A Song of Greatness'' (a Chippewa Indian song), T. S. Eliot's Jellicle Cats in ``The Song of the Jellicles'' and Vachel Lindsay's North Wind stealing a bite of ``moon cooky'' from the sky. (3-8)