MOOSE AND FRIENDS

It's hard to explain the charm of Latimer's stories about Moose (this is the third collection). Is it the sweet, impeccable logic brought to such scenes as Cardinal teaching Moose to whistle, a skill he passes on to his valentine Skunk (`` `Flute your tongue,' '' he says)? Or the gentle satire, like the reaction to Fox's book of untested recipes (``I tried them in my mind,'' Fox alleges). It may also have to do, say, with the rueful philosophy informing the animals' patience with a rogue Barbary sheep who invades their territory—``A calm song on the trombone will not change her,'' Muskrat admits, and yet, ``it might.'' Whatever the reason, this ingenuous, peculiarly American whimsy—with Ewing's affectionate watercolor characterizations as the perfect complement—continues to delight. (Young reader. 6- 10)