BRIDGET AND THE GRAY WOLVES

Bridget, who doesn't like rough play and won't go near dogs or worms, finds herself separated from her day care group on an autumn walk. In a fairy tale–like turn of events, she becomes surrounded by a pack of yellow-eyed wolves yet doesn't falter for an instant. Addressing them with big-sisterly impatience, she invents games for the wolves to play—such as hospital ("In the hospital you have to lie in straight rows, otherwise it looks sloppy")—sends them to the bathroom ("The wolves obediently go to their pee trees. And soon it sounds as if it's raining in the forest") and sings to lull them to sleep. In the morning, she finds her day care without trouble; the wolves clamor after her, asking her to come back to play. Lindenbaum (Boodil My Dog) draws a bossy-looking Bridget and a bunch of cowering, abashed-looking wolves in various attitudes of belly-up servility. A scary moment when Bridget first becomes lost and a couple of longwinded passages do not detract from the entertainment. If youngsters can suspend their disbelief at the heroine's abrupt switch in behavior, they may well enjoy this unexpected turn on the theme of summoning one's courage. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)