PAPA AND ME

Papa bear and his son are out for the day, wetting a couple of lines in the local stream. The son lays the ultimate challenge on his old man: ``How do you know you're my father?'' Papa bear, cool as a cucumber, explains that he can see the many memories he and his son have reflected in his son's eyes: like the time they hunted for honey but found a mad swarm of bees, or the time the roof of their house blew off to reveal the night sky shot through with stars. Little bear seems dubious, but he decides to humor his father, if only because he wishes to start accumulating memories, like the fact that he has a much larger fish on his line than his father does. This is a low, low-key effort, not without its charming moments, as in the father's perplexity when his son doesn't quite get the drift of his remembrances. Newcomer Miyamoto's tale is affecting in its quiet way, though at times both the artwork and the story are so delicate it's a wonder they don't crumble to powder. (Fiction/Picture book. 4-8)