BOB

A rooster with a bit of an identity crisis takes center coop in this lighthearted picture book about the sounds various animals make. Bob the rooster has always clucked right along with the chickens he lives with. But when Henrietta the cat tells Bob he needs to learn how to crow in order to "wake up the girls every morning" he's thrown. Henrietta offers the only help she can and teaches Bob to meow. Further farm and countryside research results in Bob mimicking all manner of noises—"Woof,... Moo... and Ribbet-Ribbet-Hop-Hop"—among them. At last, he happens upon a bird that resembles him and learns to deliver a rousing "cock-a-doodle-do!" However, it's Bob's mastery of other animals' expressions that proves particularly handy when a fox comes slinking around. Pearson's (Where Does Joe Go?) kicky pencil-and-watercolor scenes give this simple barnyard tale a vibrant sense of sound and movement. Bob's black-and-white speckled plumage and flame-red cock's comb offers readers something to crow about. Ages 3-6. (Sept.)