THE MISSING SUNFLOWERS

Stern's first book is part mystery, part natural history, part philosophy. Even though Simon's younger brother, Jack, is scornful, Simon wants a garden of sunflowers. He's delighted when his neighbor, Mrs. Potter, gives him three sunflower plants to thank him for feeding her birds for a few days. Once the sunflowers are planted, Jack, too, sees their leonine, yellow beauty, and he wants one. First one sunflower bloom disappears, then another; Simon keeps one eye on the remaining flower and the other on possible suspects. When, toward the end of the summer, Mrs. Potter lends Simon a bird book and binoculars, the last sunflower disappears. She is there when he solves the mystery and offers wise counsel: ``Sometimes the most precious things are the ones we can't keep.'' That includes the birds whose wild beauty Simon now recognizes and whose names he's beginning to know. There's much to think about here, and Ruff breathes summer's warmth into the mixture with her sunny palette. (Picture book. 5- 8)