cover image Take Two! A Celebration of Twins

Take Two! A Celebration of Twins

J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen, illus. by Sophie Blackall. Candlewick, $17.99 (72p) ISBN 978-0-7636-3702-6

This playful collection of twin-themed poems, a welcome addition to the bookshelf on the subject of twins, is as much for parents as for kids. Early poems focus on the time before birth: “Wrestling in the family womb,/ You and sister linger,” reads one, as twins crouch in a “waiting womb” (such puns abound). Other poems speak directly to Mom and Dad (“Imagine that! Your blessed event/ Could grow up to be president!”), and many address twins’ close bond. Blackall’s illustrations are mischievously perky, featuring kewpie doll–like babies and conspiring older twins. This team doubles down on humor and empathy, adding a hint of subversion. Ages 4–up. Agents (for Lewis): Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown; (for Yolen): Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. Illustrator’s agent: Nancy Gallt, Nancy Gallt Literary Agency. (Mar.)