The Bremen Town Musicians

This book retells the familiar tale of four aging animals who set out for Bremen determined to make their living as musicians. The volume's high point is the effulgent artwork by Watts, who has also illustrated such classics as The Fir Tree and The Elves and the Shoemaker . Whether depicting the richly tinted autumn landscape or the incandescent glow of the moonlit forest, her double-page spreads are imposing. Bell's forthright translation lacks the flair of both Hans Wilhelm's book of the same title and The Traveling Musicians of Bremen by P. K. Page, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton (Children's Forecasts, Feb. 3, 1992). Watts's pictures, however, though possessing less child appeal than Wilhelm's, make this the most visually memorable of the three versions. Ages 5-8. (Apr.)