LILY AND THE BEARS

Lily, not liking to be a child, dons a bear suit each morning—with manners to match, which her parents deplore but don't try to change. On a zoo trip, she's mistaken for a real bear and put in a cage with two enormous, ferocious-looking specimens who are apparently the first not to be taken in by her disguise (``Real bears don't have zippers down their fronts''); Lily escapes, having learned her lesson—or has she? Now she's a deep-sea diver: ``Big and brave.'' The brief story here is not well developed—there's no clue as to why Lily needs a facade— but this New Zealander's soft, detailed illustrations are amusing, while her narrative is brisk and pleasantly wry. Children may enjoy comparing this to Where the Wild Things Are. (Picture book. 4-8)