Tricky Traffic

Jean Free is a retired teacher-librarian and library consultant in
Whitby, Ontario.

Tricky Traffic is a poem about domestic and wild animals having various
adventures on the different days of the week. The accompanying
black-and-white line drawings add humor to the story by showing the
animals in funny situations such as “a moose in a caboose,” “a
sheep in a jeep,” and “a buck in a truck.” At the end of the story
there is a traffic pile-up, and all the animals go home to sleep.

Though Tricky Traffic reads aloud well, and could be used for group
poetry by adding various sounds and movements, its rhymes and language
are often rather labored (e.g., “Michael on a motorcycle,” and
“Three Who who whos on a wee-oo wee-oo wee-oo”). While definitely
not a first-choice purchase for preschoolers, it could be useful in
stimulating ideas for writing for primary-grade children. Recommended
with reservations.