Crocodile! Crocodile!: Stories Told Around the World

From many corners of the globe, Baumgartner, a children's librarian and professional storyteller, assembles half a dozen of her most popular crowd-pleasers, all tales that feature animals. She hasn't just rounded up the usual suspects; these are off-the-beaten-track entries--``The Squeaky Old Bed,'' an amusing cumulative tale from Puerto Rico; ``How the Chipmunk Got His Stripes,'' a Native American legend about a cocky chipmunk and the bear he just barely outwits; and the title story, a trickster tale from India starring a wily monkey and his nemesis, the crocodile. Baumgartner's sure-fire read-alouds are imaginatively illustrated with Moffatt's crisp cut-paper artwork. Her compositions teem with layered figures and scenes, creating an illusion of depth; a gaily patterned border sets off each page. An afterword explains how to make stick puppets and then act out the stories with them. Ages 5-8. (May)