Knock on Wood: Poems about Superstitions

Janet S. Wong. Margaret K. McElderry Books, $17.95 (36pp) ISBN 978-0-689-85512-2

The team behind Night Garden pair up again for Knock on Wood: Poems About Superstitions by Janet S. Wong, illus. by Julie Paschkis. A few poems may require reading the explanation of the superstition first, but the best dig into the spirit of the superstitions, as in ""Umbrellas"": ""The ghost of my grandfather came by for an apple/ and a cup of coffee, once./ If I knew he would come to visit again,/ I would open both our umbrellas now and wait-/ and we would walk in this rain."" The real star is Paschkis's illustrations, which conjure a dreamlike world.

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