I See

Irresistible might be the best word for these new board books from Oxenbury. In I See, a toddler gets a close-up look at a butterfly and a squint at a distant airplane. In I Touch, there's the chance to compare Daddy's coarse beard with a slimy worm. In I Hear, a child listens to his Grandpa's wristwatch and his baby sister's yelp. And in I Can, there is quiet joy on a baby's face as he stretches his arms over his head and bends over to touch his toes. The ""I'' in the title of each book says it all; the toddler is at the center of his or her cozy universe. Oxenbury's rosy babies are characteristically winsome. A child's world is pure perception, and the artist has captured that world with simplicity and charm. (13st