Weird. Verses that are so lame they spoil clever wordplay, by a 'real' poet? And Jotto's illustrative style only appeals to some - I appreciate that it's creative, but I, personally, can't stand it.

The wordplay is fun. Of course there's an *ant* in the *pantry*! And of course it's not right there's an *elf* in the *belfry*! If I were sharing this with children I'd pull out the key words and let the kids make up their own sentences or riddles to make sense of the pairing themselves. Maybe we'd come up with more, too. ( )

These poems use words inside of other words. For example neigh, the sound a horse makes, inside of the word neighborhood. The poem gives a crazy answer as to why the smaller word is in the bigger word. The author calls them hidden meanings in the word. Beautiful pictures are provided to fit every poem. The poems tend to get a little confusing and not really make sense though. ( )

This playful book explores the fascinating world of words. Wilbur's poetry combined with Seibold's illustrations allow the reader to look at words in an entirely new way. Some combinations, like bug in bugle, are humorous; others, like the Devil in Mandeville are helpful spelling tools. This can be a way to help students look at words differently, and learn how they work with each other in interesting ways. Students can be encouraged to find their own "pigs in spigots." This would be a great mentor text for a poetry unit - especially for a student who may struggle to enter into this more abstract world. Also, the illustrations provide humorous and helpful depictions of the poetry, which can be especially useful to visual learners. ( )