WHY WON'T WINTER GO?

The chronic plaint--in a scatty, slightly dopey dramatization that some kids might like for that very reason. Andy and big sister Meg (and their parents) are the kind of scraggly cartoon characters who don't have to do much to look funny--especially with Andy taking the continued presence of Winter personally, and wise-cracking away. (""I have to buy some more sand to sprinkle on the sidewalk,"" says Andy's father. ""Phooey,"" says Andy. ""Why doesn't the snow just dry up?"") What happens is that Meg lures him outside; the two, snug in their clubhouse, imagine it's spring; and Andy, playing in the snow, finds the first skunk cabbage. The upshot: ""Cocoa tastes wonderful,"" says Andy, ""especially when it's almost Spring."" The occasional nice touch--an affectionate insult, a fond gesture, an apt line--suggests that McLaughlin might manage something less self-consciously wacko one of these days. (She might even, beneficially, tone down the pictures.) This has its moments, in short, even if it doesn't cohere into anything original or consequential.