Everybody Was a Baby Once and Other Poems

From the creators of The Pencil , these 19 poems cover whimsical territory and feature kids, angels, sausages, and monsters, rendered in kinetic, childlike sketches. A few poems strike nostalgic, melancholy notes (“We are the old dolls/ Losing our hair/ Hats and dresses/ The worse for wear”), but most are upbeat, with gently jazzy rhythms, like the title poem: “Everybody was a baby once/ Everybody was a baby once/ Everybody went to beddy/ With a little furry teddy.” The Lilliputian cast and memorable verse could make this a dog-eared favorite. Ages 2–up. (Mar.)