MR. FINE, PORCUPINE

The sweet sentiments of this tale are sharpened by the prickly quills of a porcupine. Mr. Fine knows how hard it is to be spikey; people ``holler'' and ``scream'' when he rides into town on his ten-speed bike because, as he puts it, ``My hair was a problem.'' He covers his quills, decorates them, but nothing helps until he meets someone special: ``I was not the only one in the world who looked like I do! . . . Someone will love you for just being you!'' That's not quite logical, since she shares his travails, but sense takes a backseat to the illustrations. Looking like woodcuts, but far more fluid, they show ingenuity on each page. Mr. Fine's quills are painted in a distinctive pattern; tiny animals and plants are portrayed with accuracy and comedic detail. Stylized children with stylized hair amusingly pepper some backgrounds, and the picture of Mr. and Mrs. Fine and all the little Fines is divine. Vignettes and design details abound, so there is always something to look at, even when the text and its free-spirited rhymes begin to grow heavy. (Picture book. 4-7)