ONE SATURDAY MORNING

A typical day in the life of a family of people, illustrated as bears. And the day is truly typical. Mama makes a cup of tea; Lily joins her for toast; they go for a walk in the park; the baby misbehaves; Papa's lunch gets cold. The book succeeds on the one level on which an early reader must succeed: It is utterly simple. (The word ``spaghetti'' is the only challenge for even the most basic reader.) But it doesn't reach beyond that. Surprises are kept to a minimum, the biggest plot twist being the discovery of Papa's hat in Daisy's carriage. There's no law saying an early reader has to be a thriller, but Baker (Staying with Grandmother, p. 138, etc.) makes Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad look like a Tom Clancy potboiler. The pictures are cozy, an example of an illustrator making the best of a humdrum subject. While placidity may be a virtue when writing for the early reader set, One Saturday Morning crosses over the line into boredom. (Fiction/Easy reader. 3-7)