TEN LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT HIPPOPOTAMUSES
by Douglas Little & illustrated by Donna Rawlins & David Francis
The subtitle clarifies Little's approach in his first book: ``And More Little-Known Facts and a Few Fibs About Other Animals.'' Both droll and silly, it will need some book-talking to find an audience. The graphics and format are sophisticated; the text is wry and dense with information and deliberate misinformation. Some sections are funny: The ``Shoppers' Guide'' offers ten rules for telling apart a pineapple and an echidna (spiny anteater). On the page, spiny anteaters wind in and out the text and pineapples sit in a stately row. Other sections of the book (a short story called ``How Isabella spoke bird'') demonstrate just what an odd mix of fact and fiction this volume is, which LC catalogues as 591 (Animals-Miscellaneous). Fact-finders may not find the more fanciful flights helpful; these are sometimes so subtle that fibs and facts will be hard for children to tell apart. Nevertheless, Little has a lively imagination; after playing so fast and loose with nonfiction, it will be interesting to see what he comes up with next. (Nonfiction. 10+)