THE MORE THE MERRIER

Fleming Crew (his very name sounds like a bird's) is a success at writing stories about pond animals and adventures with each other. This collection has eight new ""tails"" in it, all marked by humorously narrated and quite informative anecdotes of plaintalking creatures- crawfish, frog, chickades, heron- and a quiet detachment that emphasizes wit and circumvents sentiment. Story number one is a discussion between the turtle, the green heron and the muskrat as to their winter habits and how glad they all are about Spring. And in the title tale, a brash young squirrel learns from downy wood-pecker who will and who won't be around when the snow flies. Nils Hogner has done a soft full page drawing for each selection.