Peter Joins the Circus

Just as most kids would concur that a circus beats a package any day of the week, so is this Circus more successful than its companion volume. The chief charm of this lift-the-flap pair, however, lies with its eponymous star: a bug-eyed, buck-toothed bunny. In the first book, the quietly endearing fellow receives a package containing a hot-air balloon; Peter and Duck soar skyward, land in a desert and narrowly escape the clutches of Lion. (Perhaps Peter's personality stems from the fact that he's the one creature with a name; his pals are identified only generically.) When an elephant is discovered at Peter's window in the second book (a striped ``shade'' lifts to reveal the peeping pachyderm), the bunny exclaims, ``It's the circus!'' Mounting a bike, Peter takes to center-ring stardom as the opening act. The flaps here are used more imaginatively than in Package (and the setting is more engaging); both books, however, feature a colorfully rendered, kid-appealing menagerie set against cheery backdrops. Ages 2-5. (July)