Dino-Basketball

The fourth book in Wheeler and Gott's picture-book series that mashes up the athletic with the extinct brings readers courtside as the carnivorous Meat face off against the herbivorous Grassclippers. This duo has a good thing going, and they don't mess with their formula, offering the breathless rhymes, fouls and fast breaks, and down-to-the-final-second twists readers have come to expect ("Raptor takes an outside shot./ En fuego! Ouch! The Meat is hot!"). And as in the previous books, they use the final scene to tease the next installment: "Tickets go on sale at noon—/ Dino-Football's coming soon!" Ages 5–9. (Mar.)