THE CRUISE OF THE AARDVARK

The aardvark, terribly proud of his TU-BU-LI-DEN-TATE teeth and his EXTEN-SILE tongue and his generally remarkable appearance, is a most unpopular passenger on the Ark; not only is he selfish and snobbish, but he insists on applying his considerable artistic ability to portraying all of the animals just like himself; ""Think how much better the world would be/ If everyone resembled me."" Needless to add, the Others demur (""So Aardvark learned, and not from books,/ That each creature liked its very own looks"") but Aardvark has an unexpected chance to prove his worth--with his EX-TEN-SILE tongue (and TU-BU-LI-DEN-TATE teeth) he rids the sinking ship of termites and it sails on to a safe landing On Mount Ararat. Each one to his own taste might be the verdict on the book too--it's a stylishly written and cleverly illustrated confection.