Pied Piper of Hamelin

A gifted writer has given some witty twists to Robert Browning's classic poem, including a poetic rhythm of her own--``When the rats heard the pipe, they were . . . / crunching, crunching, crunching on / almond cookies, nutmeg cakes and every / buttery biscuit cook could bake.'' This canny piper surveys the rodent-infested Hamelin streets, stroking his chin thoughtfully. `` `There's a way to get rich here,' he said, / and he rented a room at the inn.'' The DeWitts' paintings are particularly evocative of time and place--rich in both architectural and costume detailing, they imbue the narrative with a colorful life. This Hamelin, where brazen ``rats slipped red-eyed through the streets,'' has been meticulously researched, yet the citizens' faces, for all their character, seem oddly contemporary--almost as if the heads were grafted on from another source. (This is particularly true of the children, who facially resemble small-sized adults.) In general, however, this is a fine new edition, which even finds some appropriately up-to-date morals in an old-fashioned tale of revenge and greed. All ages. (Oct.)