THE TANGERINE BEAR
by Betty Paraskevas & illustrated by Michael Paraskevas
The Tangerine Bear (32 pp.; $14.95; PLB $14.89; Sept. 30, 1997; 0-06-205146-6; PLB 0-06-205174-4): 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. (Picture book. 6-8)