"To me all words are like music. They have a sound and a rhythm and a beat. They move and breathe like the people and places they describe. They are not just flat sticks on a page. If it weren't for the rhythm in the words, I don't think I would have learned how to read. Or, as someone put it better, 'It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.'"

-- Leah Komaiko, author of "Annie Bananie" from Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children by Valerie V. Lewis and Walter M. Mayes

Pub Date: 9/23/98