The Bee's Sneeze

A bee is eaten by a spider, which is swallowed by a frog, which is gobbled by a duck, which is dined on by a raccoon. . . . Finally, a hapless ``croc'' is consumed by a whale, at which point the bee sneezes, setting off a chain reaction that liberates all the creatures. Nadler relays this string of adventures in rhyme accompanied by cartoonish drawings. Alas, the rhymes don't scan well (``A duck waddled down from the hill / And scooped up the frog in his bill''), while the art lacks finesse, with overly exaggerated lines and bright, unshaded colors. The author/artist only narrowly misses the mark, however; just a bit more attention might have generated the rhymes, rhythms and visual jokes so prized by this audience. Ages 3-6. (May)