Woof Meow Tweet-tweet

French artist Boyer's volume is based on a single conceit: the representation of animals not with their forms but with words that spell the sounds they make. (Background objects%E2%80%94trees, houses, wineglasses%E2%80%94are depicted with simplified shapes in muted colors.) A "woof" in blocky brown uppercase letters protrudes from a doghouse, a "meow" in slate-gray lowercase letters lies on an armchair, and a delicate "tweet-tweet" perches on the swing inside a birdcage. "The bird does not like his cage," Boyer observes; the "tweet-tweet" rises overhead on the subsequent spread, "Because he is meant to fly high, high in the sky." The dog provides most of the comedy%E2%80%94in one spread, the letters of "woof" appear stacked up and sprawled out in different arrangements as the dog sits, begs, and lies down. As there's little story, the series of observations has a calming effect. And there's no sense of anything missing in this sprightly experiment in perception; the mind seems to supply images for the dog, cat, and bird even when they're not there. Ages 3%E2%80%93up. (May)