THE ANIMAL THAT DRANK UP SOUND

``An animal that needed sound'' comes down to consume it entirely: as a leaping fish descends, ``the water died''; the animal ``drained the rustle from the leaves'' and ``drank till winter...[and until] It was finally tall and still, and he stopped on the highest ridge...and from there he walked on silently and began to starve.'' The world lies silent beneath the moon until at last a cricket's chirping initiates the renewal of sound, together with the life of ``our precious world.'' Stafford's language is fresh and muscular, his imagery compelling, though at first reading the imaginative leap from winter's silence to the seasonal cycle of death and rebirth is startling. Frasier provides sophisticated collages of simple forms cut from specially made striated paper, their predominantly somber tones brightened with fall's red and spring's green; ``the animal'' looks like a black polar bear. Altogether, the whole is more striking and unusual than attractive, the product of genuine talent yet somewhat labored. A BOMC selection. (Picture book. 4-8 & adult)