New Calendars Current, Choice: All With Feb. 29

The 1988 calendars are a bargain--just what we’ve always needed, an extra day for our money.

It’s a leap year, and some calendar publishers are going beyond adding Feb. 29, tacking on one or two extra months, just in case you’re slow buying your 1989 day keeper.

This is the year of the dog, the cat, the loon, exotic birds and rare beasties, wild and tamed. All on calendars, to remind us monthly or daily that the world is an Eden--if the snakes don’t blow it up.

(Except where mailing addresses and prices are given, all calendars are available in bookstores, though they sell out quickly and you may have to try several places.)

Every dog has his day on the “365 Dogs--Page a Day” calendar by Workman featuring “Bowsers and Hounds,” “Poodles and Pugs” and “Champions and Memorable Mutts.” The “365 Cats--Page a Day,” is also by Workman. In fine print on the bottom of the cover, it says: “Plus a bonus page for leap year.” Peter Straupp at Workman said: “When I saw the calendar, I thought: ‘Oh, dear, it should’ve been 366,’ but since the calendars have always been called 365 Page a Day, it seemed better for continuity to keep the name.”

The cat with the rat is back. “Krazy Kat,” drawn by George Herriman, has escaped from the collectors’ comic strips and onto its first calendar, bringing along Officer Pupp and Ignatz, the mouse who thinks he’s a mountain. Not surprisingly, it takes 13 months to play cat and mouse (Harry N. Abrams Inc.).

Possibly the most unusual cat calendar is “Cat Lovers Against the Bomb,” with the legend “Farms, Not Arms” and a cautionary note for most days: “April 21, 1973: Cat named Quincy fell from 19th-story balcony in Toronto and survived.” And “Sept. 14, 1982: Wisconsin became first state to win referendum for nuclear freeze” (New Society Publishers, 4722 Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, Pa., $6.95 plus $1.50 for mailing).

“The Animals Diary” by Animus from Jet Offset, 6-8 Boundary St., London E2 7UE, protests animal abuse; 2.95.

From its permanent collections and passing fancies, the National Gallery of Art shows weekly glimpses of “The World of Claude Monet” on its engagement calendar and a selection of Monet and contemporaries on its “Impressionism Address Book” (both spiral bound). “The Berthe Morisot Datebook” (with Mount Holyoke College Art Museum) is bound with a hard cover for more important events; Renoir and Georgia O’Keeffe wall calendars make more memorable months.

“The Subject Is Women,” the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s engagement diary, pictures women as seen by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, artist John Singer Sargent, photographer Bernis von zur Muehlen and others.

“American Art in American Museums,” the Abrams appointment diary, selects art weekly from 52 museums, from a Jacob Lawrence in the Hampton (Va.) University Museum to a Larry Rivers in Williamstown, Mass.

“Modern Graphics: The Artist’s Book,” this year’s wall calendar from the Library of Congress, has a brilliant page for every month from books with works by Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miro, Juan Gris, Henri Matisse and others from the library’s collection.

N. C. Wyeth, who stole the show from his descendants at the recent Corcoran Gallery of Art exhibit, stalks a Macmillan calendar with his illustrations from “The Last of the Mohicans.”

“The Amnesty International USA Human Rights Calendar,” published by Universe, offers thoughtful monthly images by world artists. Among them: a fat military man by Fernando Botero, two men on a horse by Alexander Calder, a peaceful seascape by Jan Dibbets and, appropriately, a hand reaching for a hand by Tadanori Yokoo.

“Celestial Images,” the Smithsonian Engagement Calendar, shows the sun, moon and stars in a “Star of Bethlehem” quilt; the Smithsonian mace--a lion holding a sun, resting on an inset of English smithsonite; a globe of the planet Mars and other weekly marvels.

The Lamborghini sporting car, a seductive image, poses for photographs by Brad Wagner for Landmark Calendars.

The annual “Yachting” calendar by Universe is filled with fair winds and full sails in races around the world.

Pitch and Tar Swamp, Great Falls, Dark Hollow Falls and Peaks of Otter are among the “Wild and Scenic Places of the Old Dominion” as photographed by David Muench, Ed Cooper, Jeff Gnass and Tom Till and annotated for the 1988 Virginia calendar (Brown Trout).

“The Waterfowl Art of Maynard Reece,” by a winner of five federal duck stamp contests, hunts with a brush for mallards, geese and teal ducklings in their native habitats (Abrams).

“The World Wildlife Fund Calendar” pictures the panda, hoatzin, the red-eyed tree frog, organpipe cactus and other unforgettable endangered species.

The National Geographic Calendar commemorates 100 years of exploration from the poles to the ocean depths (Abrams).

“The American Film Institute” picks a producer a month--George Lucas, Hal Wallis, David O. Selznick among them--and supplies a picture a week from their works.

J.R.R. Tolkien is with us always on this, the 50th-anniversary calendar of the Hobbit (Random House).

“Growing Up Catholic” for the year MCMLXXXVIII describes itself as a “blessedly funny communion of holy and semi-holy days for the Year of Our Lord.” It lists the feast day of St. Anthony, patron of Lost Causes, and similar sanctified souls.

“Peter Spier’s Advent Calendar” builds into a paper church with windows to open for 25 days (Doubleday).

“The Words of Martin Luther King Jr.,” based on Coretta Scott King’s book, offers thoughts and 13 historic photographs (Harper & Row).

“NFL Football” scores with 13 great gridiron triumphs for your wall, including the past two Super Bowls, photographed by Walter Looss Jr. for Abrams.

“The 1988 USGA Championship Calendar” comes from Hallmark, with golf courses to putt-putt around in your imagination. “The 1988 Baseball Macmillan Calendar” includes a picture of Jackie Robinson stealing home. Something for every hurrah: “The 365 Sport Facts-Days” calendar by Workman.

“The Maccabiah Calendar” commemorates the 12th Jewish games in Israel. Stephen Gottlieb, a Washington photographer and a bronze and gold tennis medalist at the games, photographed a selection of 12 games from 30 sports played by Jewish athletes from 40 countries.

“Flying High,” the first annual Naval Aviator’s calendar, is out, with some of its proceeds going to the U.S. Naval Memorial Foundation in Washington. Along with photographs by Brian R. Wolff and C. J. Heatley III is a dedication by former astronaut Alan Shepard.