Yo, Hungry Wolf! - A Nursery Rap

Wearing a snazzy lavender sports jacket (a fork perched in its pocket) and a gold ring through the top of his ear, the not-so-big, not-so-bad wolf recounts three of his adventures--in rhyming rap. Vozar is at his most ingenious in ``The Hungry Wolf,'' where short, snappy verses alternate with longer ones to create a rousing rap rhythm as the wolf tells of his futile attempt to get his paws on three little pigs for ``his pork-chop fix.'' But after he blows down the first two houses, his prospective dinner escapes to the third: ``Three pigs are hidin'. / Their time they are bidin'. / Safe in house made of brick / With aluminum sidin'.'' The would-be villain fares no better in ``Little Red,'' which ends with Little Red Rappinghood chasing him out of Granny's house. But he finally triumphs in ``The Boy Who Cried Wolf,'' wolfing down doughnuts as the young proprietor of a bakery uselessly calls for help. Adding to the gaiety are Lewin's high-spirited, loosely drawn watercolors, which include several irresistible close-ups of the shifty wolf. In short: When they read this aloud, they'll be rappin'. Grownups' toes, all of them, will be tappin'. Fingers big, fingers small, will be snappin'. And the kids--trust us here--will be clappin'. Ages 4-7. (Apr.)