Duck: 9

Dorling Kindersley, prolific creator of such successes as the Eyewitness series (Knopf), has done it again. It would take a hard heart indeed to resist the winsome juveniles depicted in this See How They Grow series--baby photographs to gladden the heart of any proud mother. Equally delicious are the texts, which impart a goodly share of child-oriented information in painless fashion. Little ones will easily relate to these creatures' birth and growth through the creative use of ``first-person'' accounts--``I have chipped away my shell, and now I am pushing myself out,'' says the duckling. Each spread is devoted to a single condition or activity pertinent to the book's subject--the kitten's concerns include ``Cuddling'' and ``Looking after myself,'' while the duckling discourses on ``New feathers'' and ``First swim.'' In horizontal borders at the tops and bottoms of the pages artful, miniature drawings portray events in each life cycle. Winning beginnings. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)