FIRST THINGS FIRST

On its jacket, this nice compendium is accurately described as ""A Baby's Companion: ABC, 123, Rhymes and Pictures."" Beginning with a dozen verbs (sit, jump, shout, eat, etc.) demonstrated by toddlers, Voake provides the basics that the youngest enjoy identifying, learning, and sharing. A few nursery rhymes turn up where appropriate (two for the days of the week), and there are odd bits of added story in the illustrations (as numbers ascend from one to ten, a growing group that finally includes eight children, a dog and a mermaid build a sandcastle). There are farm animals and zoo animals, colors, fruits and vegetables, insects, flowers, and birds. The pen and watercolor illustrations, in Voake's delicate, distinctive style, are lively and easily ""read"" by the youngest. A fine alternative to Richard Scarry.