Could Be Verse!: Bonnie and Ben Rhyme Again by Mem Fox

Bonnie and Ben were a boisterous pair

who loved yelling rhymes in the open air.

With hugs and goodbyes to Mom and Dad,, they set out for a outing with Skinny Doug. Doug reminds them of all the rhymes they know by heart, so when they come to a hill, the rhymsters start, with "Jack and Jill." When they spot some sheep, they recite "Little Bo Peep."

A plum tree recalls Jack Horner's pie, and when they spy a web, they recite a rhyme about "Little Miss Muffet"with a spider beside her.

On their stroll, they draw quite a crowd--all of them reciting the rhymes out loud.

And when they encounter a garden of posies, they form a circle and sing "Ring around the Rosie!"

But by then it's growing dark. Have they gone way too far? No, they walk back home, singing, "Twinkle, Little Star."

It's never too early or too late for a spate of verses, and in Mem Fox's salute to versification with Bonnie and Ben, it's once more rhyme time, in Bonnie and Ben Rhyme Again (Beach Lane Books, 2020). For the very young, this book is a good introduction to the body of English nursery rhymes, and for slightly older children, this one gives them the chance to use the cues and chime in with each rhyme. Artist Judy Horacek provides jolly illustrations done in black line and bright watercolor fill which make this a fun book for a sing-along walk with Old Mother Goose!

The noted Mem Fox is also the author of the beloved classic picture book We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Classic Board Books).

Nice Twice!! Mice by Rose Fyleman and Lois Ehlert

THEIR TAILS ARE LONG,

THEIR FACES SMALL.

THEY HAVEN'T GOt ANY CHINS AT ALL.

There is no doubt who these characters are, those little guys who run free and who sample things people don't care to share with them.

But despite their naughty nightime nibbles, people, particularly picture book people, have a thing for mice. And it's easy to see why in Caldecott artist Lois Ehlert's brand-new redo of Rose Fyleman's Mice (Beach Lane Books, 2012). In her spare and deadpan rhyming description of these charming little rodentia, first published in 1932, Fyleman's short verse has become a classic over the years, but Ehlert's eye-catching collage version, is its best setting yet.

Using bits and pieces of art supplies and found objects in her now famous tactile style, Ehlert constructs her two little pillagers from textured torn paper and twine, craftily using the unraveled tips of the twine as feet just right for scampering ahead of the mostly unseen but looming night duty cat, paper hole reinforcements for their sharp little eyes, and pointy snippets of crinkled construction paper for their long tails. Along the way Ehlert works in bananas, crackers, popcorn, and finally cupcakes iced with sprinkles on the way to the expected escape from the cat, as the two late-night noshers picnic gleefully inside their snug mouse hole in the baseboard.

I think mice are nice, and you will, too, especially in Ehlert's magnificent remake of Rose Fyleman's Mice.