Kid Stuff

UNCLE SHELBY'S ABZ BOOK—Shel Silverstein—Simon & Schuster ($ 1.50).

THE EXECUTIVE COLORING BOOK—Hans, Altman, Cohen—Funny Products ($2.98).

These books have pictures to color and words to go with the pictures. And the words are funny. But they are not for children.

One is called Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book. Uncle Shelby is a 31-year-old bearded nut named Shel Silverstein, who draws satirical cartoons for Playboy and illustrates conventional books for children. His ABZ Book contains many interesting suggestions for idle little hands. Like D-is-for-Daddy: "See Daddy sleeping on the couch. See Daddy's hair. Daddy needs a haircut. Poor Daddy. Daddy has no money for a haircut. Daddy spends all his money to buy you toys and oatmeal. Poor Daddy cannot have a haircut. See the scissors . . . Poor poor poor poor Daddy."

There are also instructions on how to make a Voodoo Dolly Pincushion and what to do with I-is-for-Ink: "Ink is black and wet. Ink is fun. What can you do with ink? What rhymes with ink? D R —." There is a friendly hint about brushing the teeth: "If you do not brush your teeth, they will get dull and yellow. If you brush them, they will be nice and white and bright. Maybe a wild black panther will crawl in your window some dark night and look around for someone to eat, but he won't see you because it's too dark, and then he will see your bright white teeth shining in the dark, and . . ."

The Executive Coloring Book and a box of crayons will provide many a happy hour to growing vice presidents, who will feel right at home with "THIS is MY TELEPHONE. It has five buttons. Count them.

One, two, three, four, five. Five buttons. How many buttons does your telephone have?" More creative coloring is indicated by the picture captioned "THIS is MY COMPANY'S LUNCHROOM. Sometimes I walk through it and smile at the employees. 'Hello employees,' my smile says, 'I am one of you.' I never eat there."

Less artwork but more edification goes with "THIS is MY SIGNATURE. It is big. It is hard to read. Some people have little signatures that are easy to read. They never make over a hundred a week."