Inside a Barn in the Country: A Rebus Read-Along Story

``Here is the mouse that squeaked in the hay and woke up the horse that whinnied neigh''-the formula is familiar in this tale of a Babel-like barn, but Capucilli and Arnold give their work plenty of extra bounce. Kids will happily mimic the clamorous barks and clucks, moos and cock-a-doodle-doos as more and more animals wake up and join the chorus; and youngest readers will especially enjoy the tiny rebuses that appear in place of text for each animal that is mentioned. Arnold's (The Roly-Poly Spider; My Working Mom) lush cartoons of bug-eyed beasts convey the madcap action. His rebuses add touches of red-orange, midnight blue and dandelion yellow to the black-and-white text. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)