
DATE: Tuesday, July 29, 1997                TAG: 9707290039

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E4   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, staff writer 

                                            LENGTH:   45 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * The children's book ``Small and Furry Animals,'' reviewed in Tueday's Daily Break, is out of print. However, the book is available at the Virginia Beach public library. Correction published Wednesday, July 30, 1997 on page A2 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT. * ANIMAL SKETCHES ARE COLORFUL, INFORMATIVE

A FOX HUNTING, a beaver swimming, a mole digging, every fascinating detail about more than 50 small mammals is pictured and discussed in ``Small and Furry Animals'' (Putnam & Grosset).

This gorgeous watercolor sketchbook is the work of Gill Tomblin, an English-born artist and writer.

A treat for the eye as well as a mine of information, this big picture book details the lives of many little animals that usually captivate children - opossums, mice, bats, rabbits. However, Tomblin also includes the obscure and, thus, even more engaging exotic creatures like the platypus, wombat, lemur and loris. Her drawings offer long views as well as close-up details, like the pad pattern on a rat's foot or the pouch of a mother opossum.

Young readers see the animals in their burrows and nests, feeding, hunting and playing. They find out odd facts: rabbits are born naked and blind, beavers stand upright to carry their kits, shrews follow their mothers by forming a chain.

The text follows each small illustration across the page so grown-ups can offer as much or as little information per reading session as their audience is ready for.

This is definitely a good book to check out and even well worth buying for a child's own library. It is suitable for and interesting even to adults. ILLUSTRATION: PUTNAM & GROSSET

These pairie dog pups are pictured in ``Small and Furry Animals.''

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by CNB