Would They Love a Lion? CL

Denton (Granny Is a Darling; Realms of Gold) brings an abundance of charm to a familiar scenario, a child pretending to be each in a series of animals. After dreaming of being a bird, Anna decides, ``I could be a bird.... I could be.'' So she ``flaps her wings,'' conveyed in the illustration as the girl leaping before the mirror, arms propelling a vast, wing-shaped expanse of bathrobe. She then assumes, in turn, the guises of a bear, elephant, dinosaur and rabbit-effects also achieved by Denton's clever draping of Anna's bathrobe. Throughout, Anna's mother and an older sibling are seen tending an infant; in her final disguise, as a lion, the girl approaches them and lets out a huge roar, which captures everyone's attention. It is up to the reader to draw the connection between Anna's game and the presence of a newborn, but those who miss the point are left with a fully satisfying story nonetheless. And Denton's whimsical pictures-handsomely reproduced on heavy, textured paper-afford plenty of child-centered fun. Ages 2-5. (Apr.)