HENRY BEAR'S PARK

It's really Henry's father's park--Poppa Bear sold his Stutz Bearcat to buy it--but when Poppa, a balloon ascensionist, drifts off into the unknown, Henry devotes himself to caring for the property. He even builds a treehouse there so he can ""be on top of things."" Thus, with a few waggish puns and allusions and several gentle, delicate fine-line drawings (also a touch allusive, if not downright derivative), McPhail tells of how Henry is misled into neglecting the park when a pompous, posturing hog pretends he can find Poppa. But Poppa does at last return, to enjoy with his son the jelly cakes an obliging Mama Bear delivers daily to the park. Cozy, in its whimsical, disingenuous way--but the point gets lost somewhere amidst that untended foliage.