Ride a Purple Pelican

A rollicking, rambunctious collection of rhymes by the author of the popular and acclaimed The New Kid on the Block. Prelutsky's nonsense verse is simple and tongue-twisting by turns as he carries his readers along on fantastic flights of fancy ""from Seattle/ to the city of New York.'' Kids will enjoy the stops along the way to visit ``Timble Tamble Turkey,'' ``Jilliky, Jolliky, Jelliky, Jee'' and ``Hannah Banana,'' or pronounce such locales as Saskatoon, Albuquerque or Cincinnati. The verse is made all the more engaging by the flowing full-color pictures by Williams. The book vibrates with these paintings that can create a mood, communicate a feeling or expand on the zaniness of Prelutsky's characters and situations. This is a fine and funny introduction to poetry for the very young. Kids will want to climb on board for another trip, and soon. (2-up)