The Nutty Queen

``The Nutty Queen she bought a boat, / And sailed across the sea. / `I've left the King to see the world. / I'll not be back for tea.' '' Thus begins this zany monarch's farcical foray to farflung shores, told in giddy, lilting verse. And see the world she does: whether sporting extravagant chapeaux on the Isle of Cats, swinging from trees in the Land of Peas or cutting the rug with a ``charming dinosaur'' (accompanied by fiddling white mice), this ruler gives new meaning to the term ``liberated woman.'' It's hard to say who is sillier here, Pike the author or Pike the illustrator. Punk-wigged porkers jumping rope with Her Majesty are but one of the many memorable images on this (rather pricey, to be sure) voyage of discovery. In a nicely humorous touch, youngsters will certainly relate to the fact that this lady goes nowhere without her teddy bear--he is in virtually every picture. And just as readers will, the exhausted animal smiles contentedly on the queen's lap as she takes homecoming tea with her consort. Ages 4-6. (July)