At Christmas Be Merry

A bear family and their animal and doll friends scamper through the busy days before Christmas. Roche has chosen poems and rhymes ranging from Mother Goose to Aileen Fisher and Eleanor Farjeon, and snippets from familiar carols: ""The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more,'' are the words that launch Christmas Day, excerpted from ``O Little Town of Bethlehem.'' Because not all of the selections specifically refer to Christmas (``Jack be nimble'' is used as a parlor game, even though it isn't a holiday rhyme), the collection seems fresh. The lively details in the watercolor pictures will inspire repeated readings; the two young bearsespecially as they settle in to bed on Christmas Evewill remind readers young and old that much of the joy of the day is in the preparations. (2-8)