Ten Sly Piranhas: 2a Counting Story in Reverse--(A Tale of Wickedness--And Worse!)

Wise's provocative subtitle translates to a sort of ``Ten in a Bed'' of the deep, wherein the protagonists devour one another until the last succumbs to a hungry croc. The concept is clever enough, on the face of it (although the literal-minded may object to the biologically inaccurate representation of this species of fish, which do not in fact eat their own), but Wise's verse is neither sprightly nor inventive enough to animate the entire countdown. Occasionally awkward in rhyme and meter, the verse is generally repetitious. Chess's almost fluorescently colored pictures contain some priceless examples of her trademark wicked wit (the glassy-eyed stare of a piranha who is growing sleepy in the sunlight, to fatal consequence, is particularly hilarious). In a sort of split-screen effect, they offer vistas of various tropical land animals above strips that portray the diminishing schools underwater. But even though the illustrations are fetching individually, they fall short of Chess's strongest work, chiefly because the underwater scenes--the focus of the story's action--provide little opportunity for visual variety. Ages 4-8. (May)