CIRCLE OF SEASONS

``In spring, the first warm days bring everything bursting forth—green shoots from the ground and frisky baby animals to chase in the sunshine.'' In this sweet turn through the seasons, children romp gaily through parks and fields, splash about on a beach, and at year's end gather around a tree, a menorah, and ``Grandfather for a story by the fire.'' Muller alternates wordless spreads with uncrowded pages of smaller vignettes, all painted in softened colors and decorated with simplified natural details. Not as pretty as the reissue of Charlotte Zolotow's When the Wind Stops (p. 642), which Stefano Vitale illustrated, this artist's showcase (Monfried gets a credit only in the fine print) invites readers into a safe, inoffensive, idyllic world. An alternative to Anne Rockwell's First Comes Spring (1985) and other books of that ilk. (Picture book. 3-6)