cover image Central Heating: Poems about Fire and Warmth

Central Heating: Poems about Fire and Warmth

Marilyn Singer. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $15.95 (48pp) ISBN 978-0-375-82912-3

If Footprints on the Roof contemplated the earth and environment, this companion volume, Central Heating: Poems About Fire and Warmth by Marilyn Singer, illus. by Meilo So, explores all aspects of fire. From fire's very nature (""Fire has contradiction/ at its heart, / from that wintry blue part/ to its jagged golden crown"") to the legendary creatures that breathe it (""Who wouldn't care to be/ a dragon?/ To be master of fire/ and air?"") to the fire fighters who squelch it. So's illustrations, appropriately rendered in red ink, set the scenes ablaze with energy and vitality. .