Under My Hood I Have a Hat

PreSchool-Grade 1-Kuskin's poem, which first appeared in her collection The Rose on My Cake (HarperCollins, 1964; o.p.), has been paired with playful pastel illustrations. A girl and her dog go inside after romping in the snow. Short verses describe how she takes off her winter gear: "Under my hood/I have a hat/and under that/my hair is flat." After a snack of cookies and a hot drink, the child goes through the process of getting dressed to go back outdoors, donning a muffler, gloves, two pairs of pants, and red rubber boots. Finally, she is bundled from head to toe: "And when I walk/I must not fall/because/I can't get up at all." The endpapers set the tone by showing footprints in the snow. The simplicity of the art reflects the simplicity of the poem. Flat background colors direct readers' attention to the actions of the characters, which are drawn with clean lines. Pair this lovely book with Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day (Viking, 1962) for a warm winter storytime.-Linda Staskus, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH