When There's Work to Do

This winsome quartet highlights a sextet of animals as they frolic and perform dubious domestic duties. The narrator here is joined on his appointed rounds by pals Whitey the polar bear, George the chimp, Millie the elephant, Wilson the giraffe and the more prosaically named (but no less beguiling) Croc and Hippo. Despite their good intentions, these critters occasionally lose sight of the task at hand, preferring instead to smother a snout in toothpaste (``Croc always cleans his teeth'') or upset a grocery-store display (``Hippo likes spaghetti''). In crisply rendered illustrations against white backgrounds, Butterworth portrays a consistently amusing cast in one silly scenario after another. (Only literal-minded youngsters might question the relative sizes of creatures and human; why, for instance, is the giraffe smaller than the boy?) Cozy, reassuring and subtly instructive, these board books prove that many paws make light work. Ages 1-3. (Apr.)