Blackberry Hollow

An eclectic--and decidedly eccentric--menagerie inhabits Blackberry Hollow, the setting of this first novel. If these animals are less memorable than the residents of A. A. Milne's Hundred- Acre Wood, Peabody's anthropomorphized creatures do share some of the same endearing characteristics of Pooh and company. The closest soul mate might be Parnassus, the good-natured, absent-minded bear proprietor of the local store. The bruin trots forth an entertaining array of inventive inventions, including a reel made from a flour sifter with which he goes ``pie-fishing.'' Resourceful Parnassus also devises a contraption (fashioned from the balloon of a bagpipe) that enables Tom McPaddy, a homesick frog, to return to his native Scotland. Peabody's small-scale, pen-and-ink drawings illustrate his carefully crafted if rather slow-moving narrative. Though the prose may at times prove a bit verbose for younger readers, a good deal of humor propels the Hollow-dwellers' misadventures. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)