WHO SAYS A DOG GOES BOW-WOW?

Only in English does the dog say ``Bow-wow''; Finns, Turks, Russians, and Poles agree it's ``How-how,'' while a dozen other languages come up with even more transliterations, as different as ``Ar-ar'' and ``Mong-mong.'' Varying his introductory question only slightly (``What does a lamb say?'' ``How does a cat sound?''), De Zutter lists sounds attributed to 16 animals, in several tongues for each. It's quite interesting: nine agree that cows say ``Moo,'' while even the variants aren't very different; for other creatures—chickens, horses, birds—the diversity can be enormous. The brief verse that introduces the lists is laughably awkward, but serves its explanatory purpose; Caldecott Honor medalist MacDonald adopts Eric Carle's tissue collage technique (crediting him in her dedication) to create handsomely designed, vibrant creatures, crisply silhouetted on a clean white ground. There's some disparity between format and subject appeal here; still, creative adults are sure to find uses for this attractive, multicultural look at a classic topic. (Picture book. 4-10)