TUMBLE BUMBLE

A sly caper with a merry cast and fun that readers can count on. ``A tiny bug went for a walk./He met a cat and stopped to talk.'' Bug and cat bump into a crocodile, her friend the bee, and a baby pig (`` `Oink!' he squealed. `That was my tail!'/They apologized to no avail.''). They startle a big green toad and scare a baby mouse who bumps into a yellow house, which they all enter, then, ``Tippy-toeing on fourteen feet,'' they ``tumble bumble'' up the stairs and into an empty bed, first checking around for bears. A spider, then a bear, joins them, making nine, followed by a little boy, who opens his bedroom door to become the tenth in this group of new friends. Delicate, jaunty pictures make a companionable match. (Picture book. 3-6)