THERE WAS AN OLD MONKEY WHO SWALLOWED A FROG

Old monkey swallows bits and pieces of the rainforest to a cumulative refrain, a rhythm and melody straight from that little old lady: “He swallowed the toucan to squawk at the bat. / He swallowed the bat right after the cocoa. / He swallowed the cocoa to sweeten the frog. / I don't know why he swallowed the frog. / What a hog!” Gray’s shiny digital illustrations show the eater so fat in the end that the only movement possible is his stomach’s “rumble rumble rumble... / Yours would too... // if you swallowed a jungle!” There is no regurgitation here, just an inside view of the googly-eyed cocoa, mango, vine, toucan, iguana, leopard, sloth, tapir, crocodile, etc., all alert and smiling crazily. Ward uses a few too many creatures to maintain the attention of the toddler-and-preschool group, which would be the standard audience for the rhyme, but older children familiar with the original can wink at the slick, goofy art and enjoy the over-the-top comic scenario, perhaps as part of a rainforest unit. (Picture book. 5-8)