WILDEBEEST

Two Danish award-winners collaborate in a modern ``why'' story: disgruntled because his ungainly body seems to have been constructed of spare parts by the god N`gai, the wildebeest matches his behavior to his name; he also secretly hoards a particularly lush valley—until, realizing that others of his kind are starving, he decides to share and is awarded with a nicer name: ``gnu.'' The story is a bit purposive but smoothly told; Brgger's vibrant watercolors are both handsome and entertaining. (Picture book. 4-8)*justify no*