COCK-A-DOODLE MOOOO!

Between portraits of a griffin, cockatrice, and other portmanteau creatures from world folklore, DuQuette sandwiches a dozen big, precisely detailed, fanciful hybrids of his own, from a furred-and-feathered “Cooster” (cow rooster) perched on a—fortunately sturdy—fence rail, to a coterie of fluffy pink “Squoodles” (squid poodle) drifting elegantly through turquoise waters. Each creation comes with pocket-sized portraits of its antecedents, plus a rib-tickling rhymed caption: combine a parrot with a gorilla, and, “ ‘Parilla wants a banana.’ / ‘Parilla wants a bunch.’ / And then he wants your breakfast, / and then he wants your lunch!” Taking Ellen Stern’s pedestrian I Saw a Bullfrog (2003) to the next level, each visual element here blends smoothly, ingeniously, into the next. Not only does this make an inviting lead-in to Peter Sís’s similar flights of fancy in Jack Prelutsky’s Scranimals (2002), but may well induce young viewers to take up DuQuette’s invitation, and craft a few “mythical” animals of their own. (Picture book. 7-11)