PARFAIT, NOT PARFAIT!

A breezy invitation to find rhymes in a set of visual tableaux.

As cues to what’s afoot, Rothman supplies leading one- or two-word comments and an occasional internal label—all of which are fun to read aloud in conjunction with Monsen’s illuminating illustrations. A portrait of a profoundly wrinkled dog, for instance, properly labeled “Shar-Pei,” is followed by “Not Shar-Pei” opposite a mugging Sharpie, then by a “Toupee,” which ends up on the dog’s head as a “Shar-Pei toupee.” Further sequences involve a bit of literal “Horseplay” and a yummy “gourmet buffet” complete with “sorbet” on the way to a “Birthday partay!” The art is likewise minimalist, but sharper viewers may also pick out a blue jay in one scene, a can of hair spray in another, and other unlabeled items; a list of these tucked in at the end offers some help. Nor are the author and illustrator above a certain amount of fudging: Watch out for that pile of “Shar-Pei poo-pay,” and good luck figuring out that the pins stuck on a tiny, unmarked globe are supposed to locate Santa Fe and Norway. Whether by accident or design, at least there’s no pig Latin. Of the three human figures pictured, one is brown-skinned and the others are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fun, free-wheeling word partay, if not quite carried all the way.