Dirty Kurt

From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 1-- ``No one could say why it happened that way,/ but when dirt got near Kurt it just wanted to stay.'' Poor boy. No matter whether he's at a party, playing with friends, or eating ice cream, he is a magnet for filth. His mother is afraid that the kids in his new school won't know what he really looks like. Says she, ``Not having seen how you seem when you're neat,/ they're just going to think you're a dirt ball with feet.'' So Kurt, seeing the wisdom of her words, solves the problem by playing in protective rain gear that covers him from head to toe. Of course, when he sheds his outer clothing, he is neat and clean. The charming watercolor illustrations show a grimy but happy boy and a multicultural group of children in a variety of situations. Kurt may be grubby, but he sure has a good time. The humorous rhyming text is perfect for reading aloud. Kids, just like dirt, will be drawn to Kurt. --Laura Culberg, Harold Washington Library Center, ChicagoCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews In merry, impeccably crafted verse, Serfozo (Who Said Red?, 1988) explains why Kurt can't seem to stay clean--``Soup shot from his spoon when he dressed in his best/to slide down his tie stripes and rest on his vest,'' or, ``Ice cream drip-dropped as it flopped from the cone/onto Kurt when the cone wasn't even his own.'' With a new school starting in the fall, Mom points out that ``they're just going to think you're a dirt ball with feet.'' After a day's pondering, Kurt comes up with an effective way to keep at least his clothes clean: he wears his raincoat! In lively watercolors, Poydar makes a fine picture-book debut; her amused perception of Kurt's antics is traditional in flavor, but she handles her medium with unusual skill, and her deft pictorial narration makes an excellent complement to the text. The ending here isn't quite as much fun as what precedes it; still, this good-humored exaggeration of a universal problem will make a delightful readaloud. (Picture book. 3-8) --