LULLABY OF THE WIND

Some beguiling, lulling imaginings about the evening wind: imaginings that the pictured toddler mimics--and other tykes, in nursery school or dance class or at random, might be induced to mimic too. Appealingly: ""In the alley,/wind sings a lullaby to the cat./ Cat curls up and closes his eyes;/ he falls asleep to the song of wind."" Expansively: ""Way across the land,/ wind sings a lullaby to the sea./ Sea falls asleep;/ waves of the sea roll over/ in their sleep."" Then, too: ""Clouds fall asleep;/ they float through the purple sky in a dream."" Finally, inevitably: ""The child closes her eyes/ and falls asleep in her mother's arms."" Mizumura's purple wash drawings more comfortably depict cat, waves, and clouds than the curling-up, rolling-over, cuddling-up child--the saving grace is her lightness of touch. A trifle coy, a trifle wan--but also a bit creative, a bit different.