CRAFTY CHAMELEON

A third original pourquoi story, with illustrations in vivid colors from the duo who produced Greedy Zebra and Hot Hippo. Chameleon is plagued by Leopard, whose careless leaps frequently topple him from his perch, and by Crocodile, who disturbs his nightly drinks at the river's edge. Each scoffs when Chameleon threatens to tie them up; but he contrives to catch one on each end of the same rope, and after trying vainly to free themselves, they both accord the trickster enough respect to avoid him henceforth--""But just in case [they find out] he changes color and hides when he hears them coming."" Kennaway's splendid, boldly designed paintings are dominated by the chameleon's hues of green, gold, and brown; her decorative use of pattern repetition (the double spread where Chameleon lands in a patch of stylized seven-leafed plants is especially effective) and of unexpected points of view is unusually creative. A satisfying, carefully-honed tale whose beautiful, large-scaled illustrations make it especially appropriate to share with a group.