THE BEAR WHOSE BONES WERE JEZEBEL JONES

As Grossman (The Banging Book, 1995, etc.) would have it, when a bear hops out of his skin to go snorkeling, Jezebel jumps in, and creates mayhem when people take her for a real grizzly. She scares her class and her mom, and then is dismayed to find that only the bear can unzip the suit. Luckily, the zoo animals see her own eyes peering from inside the bear's throat, and know she's an impostor. An elephant and a little dog help retrieve the bear's bones and free Jezebel. The rhyme starts out catchy, but sags in the middle, along with the plot. What works best here is the eccentric idea of a bear's bones taking a dip; Allen doesn't really explore this in the illustrations, which show a jumble of bones that looks like something the dog dug up, rather than a skinless bear who has been snorkeling. (Picture book. 4-8)