Books: The Children's Hour

CHARLOTTE'S WEB (184 pp.) — E. B. White—Harper ($2.50).

THE HAPPY PLACE (58 pp.)—Ludwig Bemelmans—Little, Brown ($2.50).

MARY POPPINS IN THE PARK (235 pp.)—P. L. Travers—Harcourt, Brace ($2.50).

BIG TIGER AND CHRISTIAN (593 pp.)—Frifz Mühlenweg—Pantheon ($4.95).

This year's crop of children's books has been remarkable on two counts: 1) it is probably the largest in publishing history (more than 1,000 titles), and 2) as a whole it comes close to proving that junior is just as well off curled up with a good TV set. There have been shovelfuls of forgettable stories about small, cuddly animals,...