THE TANGERINE BEAR

A classic premise, weakly tweaked. A teddy bear can't understand why no one will buy him, until he discovers that he's defective: his mouth is upside down. He ends up in a junk store window, faded by the sun, next to other damaged items whose tales of woe inexplicably make him laugh. Finally a customer does offer to buy him, but the owner suddenly declares he's not for sale, since he's ""the only family I have."" Bear's melancholy vanishes instantly. In the textured, highly idiosyncratic paintings, Bear's frowning, oddly lopsided mouth gives him a surly look, and also gives visual expression to the story's off-center air. Stick with Corduroy.