BIG BOY, LITTLE BOY

A formula-perfect demonstration of how to foster independence, offering and allowing for dependence--featuring the model of a lithe, gray-haired grandmother. When David asks his grandmother to build blocks with him, to hammer or draw, she professes herself busy--""but I will watch."" And after he's built, and hammered, and drawn, there comes an artful little dialogue about how big he is (""I can even stand on my head""), and a cozy remembrance of when he was little--reenacted with a snuggle and a song. The illustrations are cool, broadly-modeled, wet-wash watercolors (of the Warwick Hutton ilk)--in pleasant shades of gray, rose, and tan--that are effective if postured. A certain kind of modern grand-mother would love it.