THE rich texture of the Louisiana bayou is good fodder for storytelling. Add lovable talking animals, and you have the gumbo you need for a captivating children's book.

There are two new bayoufied versions of classic tales this spring. ''The Bourbon Street Musicians,'' a retelling of ''The Bremen Street Musicians,'' tells of four old and outcast farm animals on a journey to seek new lives as New Orleans musicians. ''Lapin Plays Possum'' is a more ambitious effort, recasting African rabbit trickster tales as they were found in Louisiana.

''The Bourbon Street Musicians'' combines pictures and words to capture the dreamy feel of southern Louisiana, and Andrew Glass's illustrations, thick and vivid with the bayou night, are the book's best asset.

Four flawed old barn animals join together in a band to escape what they fear is certain death for failing their respective farmers. The mule, who can no longer even keep crows away, meets a bloodhound who has lost his sense of smell, a rooster who crows at night and a cat who fails to catch mice. Their musical talents, though, are limited to each animal's signature sound: the mule's bray is his trumpet, the hound's howl is his drums, the rooster's crow is the bass, and the cat is the group's chanteuse with her meow.

In her first book for children, Kathy Price makes the journey itself the story. The characters' tales of fallen farm glory add up to a portrait of a gang of likable misfits that children will root for. The phrase ''As grass is green, sho' 'nuff'' is passed on from the mule to the other animals and becomes the story's anthem. Price also incorporates Cajun catchwords like gris-gris (magic charm) and obeah (wise witch), and includes a helpful glossary that parents can flip to for the inevitable ''What does that mean, Mommy?''

In the end, the Bourbon Street musicians never get very far from home. Their story carries a familiar, comforting moral -- find happiness in the people you love and the place where you are, rather than in a fruitless search for far-away fame.