The Furry Bedtime Book: Lovey Bear's Story

Lundell (My Book of Funny Valentines) has apparently reasoned that if curling up with a book is fun, curling up with a book covered in plush must be even better; handling this volume offers the tactile appeal of cuddling a stuffed animal. Between the furry covers, a mother bear reassures her little bear, fearful that the wind will carry him off, that she will keep him safe: if necessary, she says, ""I'll find a plane/ and fly with all my might and main,/ and when you're near the planet Mars/ I'll catch you in a net of stars."" The story is comforting, even if highly familiar; perhaps its most well-known model is Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny. McPhail's (If You Were My Bunny) lovely illustrations don't need a fur setting to boost their charms. The pictures of the wind whisking a stocking-capped little bear through the deep indigo of the night sky are especially winning, and his lit-up Paris sparkling beneath the dancing airborne bears has a magic that soars over the sometimes pat rhymes. Ages up to 6. (Oct.)