I SAID TO SAM Molnar, Gwen. Illustrated by Carlos Freire. Richmond Hill (Ont.), Scholastic-TAB, 1987. 48pp, paper, $4.95, ISBN 0-590-71367-1. CIP Pre-School to Grade 2 Reviewed by Brenda Watson Volume 16 Number 1 1988 January This is a book of nonsense poems in the style of those of Dennis Lee and She I Silverstein. Verses are about Sam, Jeremy, Bonnie Belinda and Megan O'May along with colourful animal characters like Courageous the Cat and Bossy the Cow. Print is double-spaced and consists of large black letters with a few words in colour for emphasis. The print takes up most of the page and the rest is filled with amusing and colourful cartoon-like illustrations by Carlos Freire. While in the tradition of Lee and Silverstein, the poems are not as successful as theirs are. The rhythm of the lines is often incomplete; this causes one to lose momentum when reading the verses aloud. The subjects and the stories often lack the crazy absurdity that makes nonsense verse so refreshing and amusing. The vocabulary is varied and will be a challenge to the children who are reading on their own. Recommended for well-stocked collections with a need for rhyming picture books of nonsense verse. Brenda Watson, Dummuir J.S. School, Victoria, B.C.