A Bedtime Book

Though this collection of nine brief story-poems may find an appreciative audience among Anglund's fans, most of the entries are curiously aimless. The sole exception--and the only tale told in rhyming verse--is ``My Dragon,'' the sprightly account of a boy's friendship with a flying dragon. The bulk of the remaining pieces, all featuring Anglund's familiar, round- and empty-faced children, are facile and flat. It's difficult to imagine, for example, that any child will find comfort at bedtime from ``A Rainbow Story,'' which tells of a rainbow that no one noticed: ``So, after a little while, the little rainbow got discouraged, and sadly folded away all its bright colors, and faded back up into the sky where no one could ever find it. Poor little rainbow. Poor silly people!'' Ages 3-6. (Aug.)