A young girl poetically attributes her love of the world around her to her animal friends. Unfortunately the story falls apart at the end when she learns to play from her friends at school, with an illustration of a boy pulling her hair and other signs of dissension. Flat, stiff illustrations.

PreS --``I learned to . . . from my friend(s) . . .'' is the one sentence a young girl repeats on each double-page spread in this simple concept book. The primitive watercolors are, for the most part, bright and attractive against a white backdrop. However, the quality is inconsistent; occasionally dark or poorly defined objects and animals appear, limiting the book's use to the one-on-one situation. The repetitious text quickly becomes tedious, and there is no sign of real movement in any of the characters. Facial expressions are almost nonexistent. Some of the size relationships are inaccurate (rabbit-girl/owl-girl), and a few of the activities the child engages in are unsettling, let alone unrealistic. A good attempt that misses the mark. --Carolyn Vang, Monroe County Library System, Rochester, NY