Kids

The latest picture book from the Anholts is a hodgepodge of musings on a very broad topic--kids. In a combination of question and answer and rhyming couplets directed at no one in particular, the text discourses on how kids behave, what kids look like, games they play and what they keep in their pockets, among other things. The ultimate effect is an aimless, lengthy laundry list. The book's sprightly design exudes some charm, with its gaggle of rollicking youngsters--though they all have similar features--engaged in characteristic activities, and with its large type that on a few spreads does some rollicking of its own. Most young readers will identify with at least some of the situations here, though the greater appeal is in the book's style, not its substance. Ages 3-up. (Sept.)