When I Grow Up, I Want to Be . . .

If the secret of success lies in visualization, then this could be the career-planner of choice: a diecut hole pierces through the cover all the way to the final spread, where a photo of a child's face beams out; the idea is for readers to mount photographs of their own shining countenances. With each turn of the page, the child in the photo appears dressed in a different job-related costume amid a fairly wacky on-the-job setting. Decidedly pithy, humorously snippy verse helps the undecided explore career options: to be a musician, ""I'll play the flute and trombone,/ Drums, xylophone,/ The banjo, piano, and trumpet./ I'll blow and I'll strum,/ I'll bang and I'll drum./ And if the neighbors complain,/ They can lump it."" Most occupations are gender-neutral, though a boy might object to seeing his face framed by a blonde, tiara'd bouffant while he seems to sport a white fur coat and a pea-green handbag (a ""film star""), and a girl might sniff at seeing herself as a balding, bearded inventor. Most likely, however, readers will laugh at the incongruities. High humor is the real point here, and Hurt-Newton plays right along, her cartoon-like, freewheeling illustrations capturing the madcap mood to a tee. Ages 3-up. (Apr.)