cover image Pajama Bedtime Bear's Birthday Party

Pajama Bedtime Bear's Birthday Party

Lee Davis. DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley), $12.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-56458-380-2

The publisher's trademark, impeccably reproduced photography (here credited to Dave King, with additional work by Paul Bricknell and Alex Wilson) is the key to this sprightly book's success. Presented in rebus form, Davis's tale of a stuffed bear's birthday party features small photos of individual items as well as larger, crystal-clear, imaginatively composed shots so crisp that they have almost a pop-up effect. After the mailman brings P.B. Bear (a sleep-loving fellow whose initials stand for ``pajamas'' and ``bed'') several packages and cards, his stuffed-animal friends arrive for the celebration--each carrying a festively wrapped gift. In the largest package, the birthday bear finds a train, which carries the pals on a circular journey (easily traced by little fingers) to a picnic site. Along the way, youngsters are challenged to count various items and to find the tiny teddy that is hidden on each spread. Even the endpapers of this oversize, paper-over-board volume offer diversion: here, each of the photos used in the rebus are repeated and labeled, enabling beginning readers to show off their skills. Ages 2-6. ( Apr .)