THE HOPPAMELEON

An emerald, saucer-eyed critter emerges from the "sleepy, slurpy swamp" and sets forth in search of fellowship in this attractive volume. "Calling anyone like me! I'm looking for a friend! Calling anyone like me!" Finding one similar characteristic in each animal it encounters, the animal builds a name for itself. When a grumpy chameleon points out that the two both possess a sticky tongue for eating, and a grasshopper points out that both share a bounding ability, the hero names itself "hoppameleon." A menagerie later, it ends up calling itself a "babylizzyparroturtlehoppameleon." Geraghty (Tortuga) never officially reveals the species of his hero, although he does mention that it makes a "most peculiar Frog! Frog! Frog! noise." Youngest readers will enjoy solving the creature's identity crisis before it does, and will be tickled by its wide-eyed indomitableness and ever-expanding moniker. Geraghty's full-bleed spreads ooze a poetic, lush realism and his use of perspective, in one of several memorable spreads, places readers on the floor of the rain forest, looking up as the frog soars through the towering tree canopy. The final tableau will also linger in readers' minds: having finally stumbled upon a fellow that looks just like him, the little green hero and its new pal make a Hollywood-like exit, silhouetted against a lavender-orange sunset. Ages 4-7. (Oct.)