Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 07/01/2019 Brown is a master of nonsense rhyme, yet there’s actually an amusing logic to the 50-plus poems that comprise this anthology. Divided into sections on people, food, sleep, animals, and “oddments,” the poems, accompanied by Brown’s stylized, naive acrylic-and-gouache paintings, describe silly, albeit occasionally relatable, topics. It makes a certain kind of sense that the Seafood ’n’ Candy Café would serve oyster brittle and calamari caramel, that in Simile Park “the trees are like steeples, / the rivers like glass,” and that neighborhood dogs might be curfewed if there were a “cur feud.” Although all the poems rhyme, the rhythms vary, making one verse sound like a limerick, another like rap; and some may sound uneven to experienced listeners. Certain poems will resonate with any audience, but others like “Sleepstealer” about a “kleptosomnambulist” will garner more chuckles from older readers. Yet there’s no denying that clever wordplay makes all the poems entertaining. From the introduction to the concluding writing advice and author’s note, Brown never lets up on the rhyming fun. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.