Sixteen places in Texas are introduced in a-a-b-b verses. Some rhymes flow off the tongue, while others are harder to read. "In Houston the oil barons crave Texas tea!/That black gold's a priceless commodity./The city hosts NASA and its astronauts/whom Mission Control oversees from this spot," and "Up north in the Panhandle sits Amarillo./There are plenty of cattle, but few armadillo./The Grand Canyon of Texas is something to view./With luck you might spy the horned toad in there, too." Each four-line poem provides facts regarding location and features of the area. Most are commonly known cities: Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and El Paso; others are less recognized, including Gonzales, Kingsville, and Tyler. The realistic colored-pencil illustrations are big and bold and done in dark tones; several different concepts are incorporated on a spread. Acceptable if materials are needed for younger students regarding the state and its diversity.

Three new rhyming children’s books by Texas authors deal with a new baby in the house, a trip out West, and the great Lone Star state.

The newest offering from Newbery Honor Author Kathi Appelt of College Station is Brand-New Baby Blues (Harper Collins, $16.99, illustrated by Kelly Murphy), which focuses on the feelings of an older sister about her baby brother.

Frankly, she’s not all that thrilled. Everyone seems to be paying attention to the little brother instead of to her.

“Now everything is different, everything is changed,” she moans. “I’m not the one and only. My whole life’s rearranged.

“Those good ol’ days are over. It’s official, it’s the news! With my brand-new baby brother came the brand-new baby blues.”

But gradually she begins to warm up to the idea. “So I guess he’s really not all bad in a baby sort of way. Of course he’ll be much better when he’s old enough to play.”

Jan Peck of Fort Worth uses her creative cadence to bring the West to life in Way Out West on My Little Pony (Pelican, $16.99, illustrated by Herb Leonard).

“Way out West on my little pony, I’m riding down the trail to see what I can see,” says the girl in the pink western hat. “I’m so brave, can’t scare me, way out West on my little pony.”

The reader is invited along as the rider encounters horned toads, prairie dogs, skunks, armadillos, jackrabbits, roadrunners, longhorns, buffalo and rattlesnakes, then tells her grandpa about her adventure.

Like other of Peck’s books (such as Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea), the last page reveals the real story.

Houston elementary school librarian Jackie Mims Hopkins is the author of Our Texas (Charlesbridge, $17.95 hardcover, $8.95 paperback, illustrated by Craig J. Spearing), which hits many of the highlights of a tour of the state.

From Ruby Red grapefruit in the Rio Grande Valley, to NASA Mission Control in Houston, to the Piney Woods of East Texas, to Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, to the Alamo and River Walk in San Antonio, readers get an appreciation for the varied geography, history and flavor of Texas life.

“Our motto is Friendship,” she concludes, “and most will agree that deep in the heart is the best place to be.” Indeed.

Starting in Brownsville at the very southern tip, readers will travel through rich agricultural areas and then move on to ride with Vaqueros in cattle country and walk Texas' sophisticated city streets. At all points of the compass, readers discover the people, wildlife and history of the great state.

Bright, colorful illustrations make the pages of Our Texas pop. Part poetry, part prose, this book is a cheerful introduction to the great state of Texas. Rhyming couplets describe features of key sites. Additional features include a large-scale map of Texas and pages highlighting the state gemstone, flower, dish, vegetable, pepper, insect, and small animal, as well as bulleted, factual nuggets of information about the cities themselves. Our Texas portrays the diversity of this state and features the groups that contribute to its unique culture: Native Americans, Latinos, cowboys, soldiers, traders, astronauts, and farmers. From the elementary school teacher who is a teaching a unit on the states, to the casual reader who wants to become familiar with the history and culture of Texas, this book would be an appropriate introduction. It gives just enough information to intrigue and to motivate the reader to learn more.