HOW TO BABYSIT AN ORANGUTAN

The Darlings (Kangaroos, 1993, etc.) open their book by explaining the need for human baby-sitters: ``Orangutan babies are cute and cuddly,'' they note, which is why ``greedy animal dealers'' capture the babies for sale, often killing mother orangutans in the attempt. Some orphans end up in Camp Leakey, in the rain forests of Borneo, where dedicated staff care for the orphans until they are old enough to survive in the wild (the authors note that the adult orangutans come back to visit, but whether this is continued dependence or not isn't clear). The text is loaded with anthropomorphisms (``wise-guy five- and six-year- olds think it is cool to slurp [milk] right from the bucket'') that some budding naturalists will find too sweet, but most children will enjoy the cluttered array of colorful, candid, full-color photos of babies grooming, playing, feeding, and mugging it up. A final page gives orangutan facts; on the dust jacket, readers are invited to adopt an orangutan orphan for $50 a year. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)