Riddle Road: Puzzles in Poems and Pictures

In this winsome companion to With One White Wing, Spires and Blegvad again combine their considerable talents for 26 verbal and visual puzzles. In simple, gracefully delineated verse, some of it rhyming, some not, Spires crafts a collection of imaginative riddles whose answers lie well within the grasp of youngsters just beginning to read. Augmenting the wordplay, Blegvad tucks clever clues into his exquisite watercolors, many of which are so meticulously executed that they resemble etchings. A woman's red umbrella with black spots, for instance, telegraphs the answer to ""Stop telling me/ my house is on fire,/ my children gone!/ Is that any way/ to treat a lady?/ I'll fly away! I will!"" The brainteasers here will intrigue and stimulate young minds, and answers appear upside down at the bottom of each page. Ages 6-10. (May)