Greens: Poems

Adoff's newest collection is playfully dedicated to Kermit the Frog for ``Being Green,'' a source of inspiration for all the poems in this book. It's not easy to tell where one of these exuberant poems ends and another begins, since they flow together as one hymn of praise to greenness. From grasshoppers to coloring books to pistachio ice cream, Adoff celebrates green and growing things in rhythmical, untaxing verse reminiscent of the ``colorpoems'' sometimes assigned to children by teachers in writers-in-the-school programs. Often Adoff's poems contain a simple sentence changed by unexpected spacing and line position: ``As soon as She Is Up/ Grandma is up/And/ Out side/ Picking the/ Fresh/ And/New/ And/ Tender/ Dandelion greens to/ Cook/ Up/ For/ Us/ All.'' Lewin's sketchy watercolor and ink drawings match Adoff's breezy tone and sense of fun. Ages 6-10. (May)