Something Big Has Been Here

If this anthology of light verse and black-and-white drawings from Prelutsky and Stevenson were a movie, it would be titled The New Kid on the Block Part II. In format, subject matter and tone, fans of the earlier volumes will rejoice in finding more of the same. These are not poems to savor for their metaphoric language or depth of thought, but are instead frivolous, rib-tickling verses about the ``Ghost Who's Lost His Boo,'' about ``Rhododendra Rosenbloom'' who buys perfume from a ``ten scent store,'' or about the ``Fearless Flying Hotdogs'' who are ``mustered in formation / to climb, to dip, to dive.'' Prelutsky's comic monologues focus on such topics as ``I am Tired of Being Little'' or ``I'm Sorry! for being a brat,'' or the irresistible declaration of love, ``Warteena Weere Just Bit My Ear.'' From Twickles and Moodles to the making of Grasshopper Gumbo, the emphasis is on the preposterous. Stevenson's waggish drawings provide half the fun in this comic collection that skips lightly on the mind and tongue. Ages 5-up. (Sept.)