APRIL SHOWERS
by George Shannon & illustrated by Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey
Cheerful illustrations accompany a lackluster text that seems more suited to a storyteller's live performance than the page. Shannon (Still More Stories to Solve, 1994, etc.) pens a story of dancing frogs, who shimmy through April rains while being chased by a snake. It's a theatricality, of course, since the snake is comprised of frogs in costume, but that's not the only contrivance. The song the gleeful amphibians sing is full of dance kicks, steps, and hops; as verse it hardly scans and is difficult to read aloud. Fortunately, there is plenty going on in the illustrations, featuring bright frogs and flowers. These reassure by showing just how the performers ``trick'' the audience. (Picture book. 3-5)