A FRIEND FOR LITTLE BEAR

A stuffed bear alone on a tiny island with a single palm tree wishes for something to play with. A bottle floats ashore, and then a spotted wooden horse that becomes Little Bear's first friend. Overnight the sea turns into a floating tag sale, and Little Bear hauls in as much junk as he can grab—so much, in fact, that the wooden horse is crowded off the island when Little Bear isn't looking. Only when Little Bear has gone to the opposite extreme and purges himself of everything he hoarded does his friend float back. ``I only need you, Wooden Horse,'' Little Bear concludes, perhaps not quite as single-minded as before. Horse's first book has a message, one worth repeating. With sweet, engaging pictures. (Picture book. 3-6)