THE KING IS NAKED!

French author Gibert makes his U.S. debut with this idealistic story of a lion's comeuppance. On a hot day in the savanna, the king of the jungle slips out of his fur to cool off. Everyone notices the pink-skinned predator, and they cease to respect him. " 'Hey, look at that cat in his underwear!' said the rhino./ 'Hee, hee! Very funny,' said the elephant." (The lion is not quite naked. He wears blue-and-white-striped boxers and a tall golden crown.) The embarrassed king wants to snarl, but "only a little meow came out," and he runs from the gazelles and zebras that he is accustomed to eating. To make matters worse, his cast-off skin is not where he left it, and he spends the night feeling "miserable." Gibert fills the pages with pleasingly childlike images of crudely drawn jungle animals and smears of oil pastel; even when clothed, the short-limbed, blunt-nosed lion is none too fierce. Though the title suggests an "emperor has no clothes" tale, the lion here deliberately disrobes, only to learn how much his mane and fur contribute to his power. In the conclusion, an antelope dresses in the bulky hide, and the frightened lion agrees to "eat only dog biscuits, artichokes, turkey, and grated cheese" if this new "king" spares him. This benign ending offers humor, but a hazy resolution to its comic concept; it uneasily combines pro-peace sentiment and a lesson in dressing for success. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)