Books: Bemelmans v. the Nazis

THE BLUE DANUBE—Ludwig Bemelmans—Viking ($3).

"Ist das nicht ein schones Schwein?" cried the barmaid in the Nazi beer garden, when a pig fell into the beautiful blue Danube (which was muddy-brown) and floated on a board past the ancient German city of Regensburg. "Ja, das ist ein schönes Schwein!" wailed the hungry, war-worn customers. Even the portly mayor of Regensburg forgot his civic dignity, flopped on his belly, and lost his umbrella trying to hook the pig. "Swim after it, drag it ashore—and report to me!" roared Nazi Gauleiter Stoltz. But the pig was...