LITTLE DOGS SAY “ROUGH!”
by Rick Walton & illustrated by Henry Cole
Walton (Bullfrog Pops!, 1999, etc.) works a series of rhymed changes on the idea that animal sounds are a kind of shorthand: "Little cows say, / 'Moo-oon! Moo-oon! / We would like to go there soon.' / Moo-oon! Soon! / Get them there by noon / When the cows say, 'Moo-oon!'” Similarly for young horses, snakes, and other creatures, closing with chicks chirping, "Sheep! Sheep! Sheep!" to count themselves to sleep. This is made for reading aloud, and Cole (The Wacky Wedding, 1999, etc.) adds to the fun with scenes of expressive cartoon animals barking, braying, hissing, and mooing enthusiastically. Don't expect listeners to say, "Enough!" after just one run-through. (Picture book. 4-7)