SEVEN SILLIES

Pig looks in the pond and sees ``Such a handsome pig!'' Called to admire it, Sheep sees the pig plus ``a beautiful sheep!'' So it goes, as a ``gorgeous'' goat, a ``splendid'' rabbit, and an equally superlative hen and mouse join the others. Seeing them gazing at their own reflections, Frog tricks them: there are ``seven sillies'' in the pond, he says, and they can only get out if the animals jump in to help them. So they do; then, feeling foolish, the six count themselves. Frog, it seems, got it wrong—but since that makes him silly too, he's right after all. Downing renders the animals in a luminous, precise style that recalls Anthony Browne's art; set in a beautifully composed countryside, they are every bit as handsome as they imagine themselves to be. Simple and deliciously comical: a real winner. (Picture book. 3-7)