Looking for Holes

Jean Pilutti is a high-school art teacher and former children’s book
wholesaler in Toronto.

The poems in Niko Scharer’s latest collection are off-the-wall and
full of rapid-fire, raplike repetitions, such as “Black beans, navy
beans / Eat them up with gravy beans / Canned beans, coffee beans /
Sweeten them with toffee beans.” All 22 poems are highly enjoyable—a
rare feat. “Escape” is among those in the collection that are
reminiscent of traditional Mother Goose nursery rhymes: “I went to the
market / To buy a pig / I put him in the pot / But he danced a jig.”
The illustrations, a combination of gouache and watercolor, are crisp
and convey a folk-art feeling. Highly recommended.