RUB-A-DUB-DUB, WHO'S IN THE TUB?

The first book to be published here by a winner of the Bologna Graphics Prize is an entertaining cumulative bathtime romp—Japanese-style. ``Rub-a-dub-dub''—a naked little boy scrubs a mound of suds on a broad floor, then rinses it under a free-standing shower to reveal an alligator. In the next spread, the gator's in the nearby tub and the boy's sudsing a frothy shape that sluices off to reveal a gorilla. A rhinoceros, three birds, a frog, and a snake follow to crowd the tub, but an elephant is one too many; moreover, his suds land on the others, but not to worry—he uses his trunk to shower them again, and it's ``Time to get out...'' Toddlers intrigued with identifying the animals under their mantles of bubbles probably won't worry about different bathing customs. The illustrations—delicate pen lines outlining simple forms in flat color, featuring the big pink tub on a field of yellow and gold—are quietly comic and handsomely designed. (Picture book. 2-6)