LEAPING LIZARD. Swede, George. Illustrated by Kimberley Hart. Stratford (Ont.), Three Trees Press. 1988. 48pp, paper, ISBN 0-88823-134-2 (cloth) $12.95, 0-88823-136-9 (paper) $5.95. Distributed by Firefly Books. CIP Kindergarten to Grade 2 Reviewed by Fran Newman Volume 17 Number 1 1989 January George Swede visited our school and held a gym full of children captive with his words. This is a poet who can do magic with a minimum of letters or with a minimum of words. His book is easily read but each short poem holds a world of images. I do not like the intrusion of the illustrations, although there are only ten. They are cartoony and rob the child of his or her own imagery—much as a cartoon of The Hobbit (Boston. Mass.: Houghton Mifflin,1984) does. In our fast food world, our television world, children need to go inside their own heads to their own visions. When George Swede tells of birds, clouds, raindrops, frogs, I want each child to have a personal inner picture. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend this very inexpensive little book, please read it aloud without showing the pictures at first. Let the children roll the words around on their tongues and share their delight. Fran Newman, Murray Centennial P.S., Trenton, Ont.