TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Readers have heard it a trillion times before and still can't remember the verses. But in this version of the carol, Hubbard (The Friendship Book, 1992, etc.) provides solutions to both issues. This witty reinterpretation of too-familiar phrases ingeniously depicts the song's slightly archaic words as children might imagine them. Thus, ``four calling birds'' comes with a quartet of chatty chickens yakking away on the telephone. Belled dogs provide the five gold rings. The French hens wear, of course, berets. The bottom of each page shows an accumulating list of icons to help children keep the verses straight, cues that even pre-readers will have fun decoding. Carnival colors and Hubbard's funky drawing style create a festive holiday atmosphere. Included are cardboard cut-out ornaments of the drawings. (Picture book. 4-10)