What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About?

The title of Viorst'slatest collection of poetry for children provides an open invitation forreaders not only to ponder feelings in general, but to examine their reactionsto the assembled poems as well. Complemented by White's free-flowingmixed-media illustrations, the light lyric pieces cover topics ranging from"School Stuff" to descriptions of the seasons, with the mostmemorable poems centering on personal and familial relations. The reasons"Why Cats Are Better Than My Older Sister" include (but are notlimited to) the following: "They never tell you what to do. / They neverever yell at you. / They don't think that they're always right. / They'reprettier to look at, too." In "New Brother," trenchantfree-verse anti-new-sibling sentiment is hilariously underscored by White'srendering of a smiling, swaddled babe strapped to a rocket heading "ToMars." But some stumbles make for an uneven reading experience. There areoccasional grammatical lapses, as found in "Could Somebody Please ExplainThis to Me, Please?," which hinges on subject-verb disagreement, andquestionable messages, as offered in "Help Me!": "Help me pleasewith all my / Ninety-seven other chores. / Then help me make excuses / When youask for help with yours." Though likely made in the service of humor oradopting a child's persona, such poetic choices might give adult readers lessto be "glad" than "mad about." An unusually mixed bag.