Oops! (review)

Katz, author of the silly song-adaptation collection Where Did They Hide My Presents? (BCCB 12/05), turns here to original verse in this collection of approximately 100 poems. He hasn't abandoned goofiness, though, as the verses are short jokey entries dependent on the puns, twists, and bathroom humor that marked his reworked songs. Subjects include farty TV viewers ("On the Air"), schoolwork ("The Penmanship Has Sailed"), and sibling discord ("No Sale"), and the doofily comic treatment and unthreatening compactness of the poems will endear the verses to young readers. The craftsmanship is unfortunately less satisfying, though: meter is often anybody's guess, and the jokes tend to be labored rather than witty, with poems sometimes relying on the topics to bring their own comedy. New Yorker cartoonist Koren brings his familiar scratchily hatched monochromatic sketches to illustrate the verses, adding a touch of texture to the pages. Florian's Bing Bang Boing (BCCB 11/94) or Colin McNaughton's Making Friends with Frankenstein (BCCB 4/94) are superior collections of droll giggly verse for a similar reading level, but Oops! may still entertain as an opportunity for irreverent readalouds and read-togethers as well as private, if not quiet, enjoyment.