Pat, the Beastie: A Pull-And-Poke Book

In this spiky, acid-colored parody of Edith Kunhardt's gentle classics Pat the Bunny and Pat the Cat , Paul and Judy play pranks on their patient-seeming pet Beastie (a green-haired, scaly, dragon-like creature) and offer readers the chance to do the same. After Paul ``jiggles Beastie's eyes'' (pop-ups) and torments the modest animal by lifting a bubble-gum-pink shower curtain (cut from material) to peer at him in the bathtub; Judy ``pokes Beastie's worm boogers'' (a pair of wiggly rubber centipedes, one green, the other orange). A miniature book (written and illustrated by the beleaguered Beastie himself) attached to one spread contains a cautionary tale, while reproaches and warnings uttered by a toothy bird and dog duo steer the reader toward humane behavior. But the wit here is misfired--four-year-olds may laugh at playing peek-a-boo with shower curtains, but the sophistication of the parody genre will probably elude them. On the other hand, older children may well eschew the book's format, while adults are likely to turn up their noses at the gross-out humor. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)