I WISH I WERE A BUTTERFLY

The littlest cricket is dissatisfied: the frog has told him he's ugly, so he'd like to be a butterfly. He confides his wish to a series of other insects--glowworm, dragonfly--who respond more pungently than sympathetically. But the spider is more philosophical, and helps him to see that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Young's paintings of the world--as seen from the cricket's point of view--are full of glorious color: sunny yellow, purply black, a shadowed undergrowth of blues and greens livened by ladybug red, similar hues cooled for a pond of waterlilies--each broad double-spread a new delight. The creatures, shown large, are appropriate to their kind, yet have personality. But the illustrations are not well served by the rather ordinary text; the idea is overfamiliar and gains nothing new from this verbose rendition. Still, worth purchasing for the splendid illustrations.