cover image Jesse Bear

Jesse Bear

Nancy White Carlstrom. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, $15 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-02-717351-2

The popular Jesse Bear ( Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? and Better Not Get Wet, Jesse Bear ) returns in this collection of rhythmic verses. Sunny, insouciant and lovable, Jesse Bear is an endearing character with whom preschoolers can easily identify. The uneven rhymes focus on Jesse Bear's activities throughout the day. He squishes in a ``muddle-puddle,'' plays his drum as he watches the goldfish ``Dance through the water / To the Goldfish Beat'' and spills his Cubby Crunchies all over the table to get the prize. From morning, when Jesse Bear in his Superbear cape pounces on his sleeping parents, to the end of the day, when he asks for ``One more story / One more rhyme / One more kiss / And now, it's time! / Good-night,'' Jesse Bear's energy, like that of many toddlers, is astounding. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)