Elijah & Pin-Pin

Delightful artwork that recalls Ernest Shepard's illustrations for The Wind in the Willows highlights this first book, originally written as a family story by the nonagenarian painter Millais. Through his delicate watercolors, Elijah the mole, Pin-Pin the hedgehog and all their forest friends spring to life: Elijah undulates sleekly in his velvety black coat, while Pin-Pin curls into a prickly ball. Sadly, the writing fails to match the art's high standards. Its wordy, somewhat dated narrative style, which depends on telling rather than showing, quickly becomes ponderous. There's no real plot here--simply 40 pages of loosely connected vignettes that take the protagonists from rescuing an injured rabbit to saving Elijah's burning mole-hole. However, the text contains some small pleasures, such as Elijah's prized chandelier made of glowworms and the animals' picnic fare of ``beetle cake, worm sandwiches, slug pie, and a large pot of snail tea.'' Ages 4-6. (June)