THERE'S A BEAR IN THE BATH!

It's the dialogue that shines in this British actor's story about a little girl who finds a huge bear in her garden and, at his forthright, childlike prompting, invites him in. ``Jam'' helps himself to food, turns on the radio, teaches Liza to tango, decries the absence of trees in her bedroom, and generally talks and behaves like an outspoken two-year-old. When it's time for Liza to do her homework, the bear suggests—before waving good- bye—writing about him; but as Liza predicts, no one believes her story. Foreman's benign, outsized bear is in the tradition of L. Leslie Brooke and, more recently, Barbara Firth (Waddell's Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?, 1992); his dynamic, light-filled watercolors have a delicately fantastical air, right in tune with the story. A jaunty readaloud that would also be especially appropriate for dramatic play. (Picture book. 4-8)