Keep Looking!

This is the 30th book that Selsam and Hunt have written together; but in this particular collaboration it is Chartier's art that steals the show. Well-defined watercolor paintings show a rural house and snowy, forested yard. Everything is still in the first spread, but in successive pictures, readers discover birds, insects, reptiles and mammals. Many of these creatures are attracted to man-made amenities such as the woodpile and the birdfeeder; bats emerge from the attic at night, and raccoons raid the garbage. The story maintains credibility because the animals never appear in incompatible groupings or large numbers. Though not especially inventive, this is a pleasant, lovely book; text and pictures easily shift from the large scene to close-ups and back again. Ages 5-8. (Feb.)