Jamaica Sandwich?

In this book of wordplay, part of the It Could Be Verse punning series, a boy preparing for a geography test casts the names of countries and cities in zesty, imaginative rhyme: ""My brother drank a Malta day/ and dipped his fries in Greece./ And though his weight was Dublin,/ his Seoul seemed quite at peace,"" he recites. However, although varied typefaces highlight key words and the puns assist pronunciation (""Laos"" equals ""louse,"" ""Chile"" is ""chili""), the book never locates its subjects on a map. Dupre's cacophonous photo-and-paint collages, busy with tumbling humans, animals and postcard images of landmarks, include out-of-context political maps-but these are often obscured by gesso for aesthetic purposes. A basic world map on the endpapers could have elevated this fun-loving volume to practical use. Ages 8-up. (Mar.)