THERE WAS AN OLD MAN...

The witty watercolors of Lemieux (The Pied Piper of Hamelin, 1993, etc.) enrich this collection of Lear limericks originally published in 1846 in The Book of Nonsense. The ``young bird in this bush'' who is ``not small'' is here so big he actually wears the bush as a belt. The ``exceedingly wide hat'' of the Old Man of Dee- side, under which the old man invites people to take refuge, becomes, in the illustration, a tent that shelters a dancing couple from the rain. Lemieux has perhaps chosen too many ditties where the fourth line is a disappointing repeat of the first, and while the illustrations complement, they rarely surprise. But young children, who love to hear repeated familiar strains, will undoubtedly be charmed. (Precocious kids—or, for that matter, regressive parents—needn't bother looking for Nantucket in these rhymes; it never appears.) A visit with an a slightly doddering old friend. (Poetry/Picture book. All ages)