I AM THE DOG, I AM THE CAT

In the manner of the insects in Paul Fleischman's Joyful Noise (1988, Newbery Medal), a dog and cat express their views on themselves, their world, and each other. Renowned poet Hall's succinct declarations are right on target (``Dog: Making the acquaintance of babies,/I allow them to pull my hair./I do not like it,/but I allow it, for/ I am the dog./Cat: When babies come into the house,/I try to vanish./Babies are crazy!/Babies sit on you''). Hall captures the foibles and idiosyncrasies of both pets, straying only occasionally from witty scrutiny of animal behavior into anthropomorphic projection (``Cat: The dog amuses me''). Moser's candid portraits are equally apt: A baleful, pyramidal, lime-eyed cat glowers over its dish; a wary UPS man peers past weighty boxes at the even weightier Rottweiler; dog and cat snooze in concert while a mouse creeps past. He makes grand compositions of everything from a cat's tail poking ignominiously from beneath a rug to a dog sniffing a hydrant. A delight. Don't forget to enlist a second voice for sharing aloud. (Picture book. 4+)