TWO-LEGGED, FOUR-LEGGED, NO-LEGGED RHYMES

From the author of A Hippopotamusn't (1990), more ebullient verse about animals. Lewis's bag of tricks includes play with sounds (pandas Ling-Ling and Ping have a wedding) and meanings (a spider taking a curtain call), delightful silliness (a Dalmatian's lost spots turn up on his mistress' face) and neat surprises. Occasionally the mood is more pensive or lyrical, but the dominant tone here is sprightly, well supported by Lewis's facile versifying. Paparone, whose covers have appeared on The New Yorker, makes an uneven picture-book debut: her pleasing colors, strong sense of design, and original touches of humor are fine, but it's too bad that she let so many clichÇd images slip in—e.g., a Disney-style deer. But an appealing collection. (Poetry/Picture book. 4-10)