AGATHA'S FEATHER BED

Old Agatha, proprietor of a lovely little shop that sells her spinning and weaving, harbors an affectionate brood of cats and enjoys offering children explanations about where things come from, describing the likes of silkworms and cotton bolls. Still, she has acquired a fine new featherbed without considering the geese, who arrive at her window, naked and complaining, in a flurry of puns (``plucky little guys''). Sending them off to stay at the ``Down Town Motel,'' Agatha contrives a unique recompense: cutting her own long hair, she makes coats for the geese to wear until their feathers grow back. In less skillful hands, this would have been a tract, but Deedy keeps the message undidactic: she suggests awareness and care for animal rights but leaves conclusions to the reader. Meanwhile, Seeley's delicately detailed illustrations are entrancing, with informative vignettes tucked into her decorative borders, an intricate new coiffure for Agatha's lengthy locks in almost every picture, and many quiet touches of humor. Offbeat, provocative, well crafted. (Picture book. 4-10)