Bear All Year: A Guessing Game Story

These four ""guessing-game stories'' fall short of the mark in their efforts to provide preschoolers with engaging mental stimulation. The books are differentiated by various themes (the seasons, morning activities, etc.) and have a question-and-answer format. On the left-hand page of each spread is a questionfor instance, ``Ten o'clock is snack time. What will Bear drink?''and pictures of several possibilities (a hamburger, an ice cream cone, apples, lemonade). On the right hand is a flap, under which Bear is shown with the correct choice, saying, ``This lemonade is so good! I'll drink it all up.'' Lobel's sketchy illustrations, filled in with watercolors, are cute, but the text is fairly static. Despite a sound format, the series as a whole lacks the creativity that might really spark kids' imaginations. (1-4)