Etiquette experts seldom dwell on the uproarious consequences of carelessness. Cole (Dr. Dog), on the other hand, considers chaos the spice of life. In a singsongy voice, the author lectures her readers on propriety (\"Don"t mess around in the kitchen./ Don"t dress the dog... or the cat!/ Don"t shampoo with a big tube of glue,/ and don"t tell your mom that she"s fat\"). Meanwhile, impishly smiling children snorkel in a flooded bathroom, drop raw eggs on a linoleum floor and, although \"it"s very rude to peep!,\" squint through a keyhole at a shaving adult?only to get an eyeful of foam. The mock-stern tone of these do"s and don"ts humorously contradicts the freewheeling illustrations, which depict such comic moments as a portly man losing his toupee and a cheerful kid stuffing toilet paper down the commode, a hint of his pink behind showing for maximum hilarity. At the rhyme"s crashing finale?in which a boy delivers breakfast-in-bed to his parents... on a skateboard?Cole reminds children and adults that even the best of intentions sometimes result in an unmannerly mess: \"I really tried!\" the boy tells his understanding mother and father. A connoisseur of the ridiculous, Cole serves up mayhem without endorsing harmful misbehavior. Ages 4-8.