THE WOLF IS COMING!
by Elizabeth MacDonald & illustrated by Ken Brown
A father rabbit thumps the alarm of the title, setting off a wild cumulative chase as the fleeing rabbit family is joined by a hen and her chicks, a sow and her piglets, and a cow and her twin calves. The animals take temporary refuge in chicken coop, pigsty, and cow shed, but none of these structures is secure; finally, everyone squeezes into the old gray donkey's shed, which bulges at the seams with various animal parts sticking out of the cracks. When the wolf arrives, pandemonium ensues. Shrieking with fright, the animals ``all let their breath out at once,'' and the shed explodes in a glorious climax, scaring the poor old wolf away. Full of action and detail, Brown's watercolors lead the eye through the growing gaggle of frightened animals, who run pell- mell from left to right across full-bleed spreads, until the final explosion seems to fly right off the page. Appropriately chaotic and fun. (Picture book. 3-7)