Ages 3-5. Little Baa is dancing through the fields as his Ma eats quietly nearby. When she looks up, Baa is gone. The other lambs, with whom Baa has been romping, soon return to their mothers, but Baa has disappeared. Ma wanders through the English countryside, tired, hungry, calling to her lamb. When the young shepherd and his collie, Floss, see Ma, they think perhaps they can help, and sure enough, Floss finds Baa waking up, as tired and hungry as his mother. The reunion of mother and baby is quite touching, and young listeners, first caught up in the animals' drama, will naturally understand that the story is also about love between themselves and their own mothers. This British import is tender and lovely, a nice mix of animal behavior and human emotion. The colored-pencil art gives scenes that are precisely rendered a dreamy quality. A book for sharing that's as soft and sweet as a spring day.

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