Hornbeam Tree and Other Poems, The
by: Norman/Ted Rand, Chrls

NY, Henry Holt, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Illustrated with color watercolor pictures by Ted Rand. This slim volume includes 19 poems about nature, including 8 about birds, all of which are illustrated with bold, realistic watercolor paintings. The poems describe animal appearance and behavior in natural, clear images that any nature-watcher can understand. The cardinal, for example, ``Tries not to look conspicuous/ In red, but doesn't quite know how,'' and the spaniels have ``Periscope tails and hairy feet.'' Several poems such as ``The Beaver, Alas'' are wry commentaries on human attitudes toward nature. The few poems which try for an arch tone (``Slothful the sloth is certainly noth'') are less successful. Rand's detailed close-up paintings of individual birds and animals and his more humorous montages of animals for poems such as ``At the Zoo'' balance beautifully with the text.