In the Spring

The creator of City Sounds and The Patchwork Farmer makes a virtue of simplicity with this refreshing look at farm animals and their offspring. The subtle lessons in animal lineage prove quietly beguiling, as ``the duck had ducklings,'' ``the cat had kittens'' and--in a particularly arresting feeding-time close-up--``the sow had piglets.'' Brown makes full use of double-page spreads to point up the farm's wide-open spaces, his bucolic paintings resembling snapshots from a panoramic camera. Slightly scumbled illustrations sparked with pointillist-like dottings evince cheery shades of spring; his cast of creatures even seems happy, freed of winter doldrums. Animal likenesses are not heavily detailed, but realistic enough for viewers at the intended age range easily to spot a strutting goose, a proud mare (her foal napping contentedly nearby), the wooliest of ewes. A low-key charmer, complete with a surprise ending. Ages 3-up. (Mar.)