I Heard a Little Baa

An animal sound, and a glimpse of part of its body--a squiggle of pig tail, a bee's back end--gives readers a clue about what creature they will find under the gatefold flap on the facing page of this ultimately bewildering book. The narrator, who appears to be a plump teddy bear, turns up a variety of hidden animals. Unlike other concept books that offer factual clues for readers to guess, here the characteristic identified is often hard to distinguish and the animal's hiding place unlikely (e.g., ""I heard a little hiss; I peeped under a rake./ First I saw a flicking tongue,/ And then I saw a snake""). The last spread, in which the text identifies a boy hiding behind a beach ball--the giggle (""tee-hee"") and the 10 toes are the tip-off--as ""me"" may well catch toddlers by surprise; many will have assumed that the teddy bear pictured in every scene is the narrator. Phillips's (Changes in You and Me) cartoons in bright, solid colors may evoke the crude charm of children's drawings, and MacLeod (Dinosaurs: The Fastest, Fiercest, Most Amazing) sets up a pleasant peek-a-boo game, but readers will likely come away more confused than amused. Ages 2-6. (Sept.)