Clean as a Whistle takes poetry to the next level. The scenery is drawn in muted browns and the author's love of natural history pours over each page. But the amusement of the story is in its simple goofiness. It appeals to the child in all of us. It is the story of three children who have fun getting dirty:
"Isn't it fun
to be young and dirty
instead of grown-up
and clean
and thirty!"
The three cousins continue running through a field and into the woods:
"Let's say we're Badgers
or Mice or Birds
who think a washcloth
too quaint for words,
who just live free
in the wild for years
without a washing
behind the ears!"
They eventually get lost and come upon an elderly lady with a hearing problem. They ask if she knows of a path so they can return home. She thinks they want a bath.
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