BEAST FEAST
by Douglas Florian & illustrated by Douglas Florian
A frequent picture-book author-illustrator offers 21 snappy poems about animals, each depicted in a square, dynamically composed watercolor. The succinctly phrased verse is fresh, occasionally whimsical, and witty with wordplay and puns (``The pounding spatter/Of salty sea/Makes the walrus/Walrusty'' is accompanied by a picture of a resigned looking old specimen in shades of rust). Sly humor pervades the pictures as much as the verse: the anteater's one-way arrow for ``A thousand termites riding in/But no one riding out''; a mega-clawed ``underwater/Mobster'' lobster (``So be careful/On vacation/Not to step on/This crustacean''); ant tunnels that spell ``Ant City''; a caterpillar (``not a cat'') that has chewed a cat- shaped hole in a leaf; a sloth so indolent that flowers sprout beneath its chin. Subtle, sophisticated, and quite charming. (Poetry/Picture book. 4-10)ers sprout beneath its chin. Subtle, sophisticated, and quite charming. (Poetry/Picture book. 4-10)