RIP AND RAP

White's rather convoluted message revolves around twins Rip and Rap, black-and-white sheepdogs that no one can tell apart, despite their differences ("Rap was noisy, but Rip was quiet. Rip liked being a sheepdog. Rap was not so sure"), in this paper-over-board book. Rap's tail sports an extra white stripe, yet his differentiating characteristic goes unnoticed by his fellow farm animals. "I don't want to be a sheepdog," Rap declares in frustration. The real attraction here is Harter's (Bear in a Square; Bear About Town) signature artwork, which makes the most of her fine black line and farmyard-bright colors. Her vibrant depiction of the pup in a pigsty—surrounded by peony pink pigs and swirling mounds of mud—plays up the humor of his identity crisis. But when a patch of dirt remains—post-bath—and it's covering his distinctive stripe, Rap's mood turns morose. Now, the other animals really can't tell the twins apart. Rap, with some help from Rip, restores his appearance, yet his dislike for his calling as a sheepdog remains unresolved. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)