cover image Florence and Eric Take the Cake

Florence and Eric Take the Cake

Jocelyn Wild. Dial Books, $11.95 (28pp) ISBN 978-0-8037-0305-6

This is Wild's debuta deliciously silly tale about Florence and Erictwo young sheep visiting Granny and Grandpa for the summerwho fetch what they think is a cake from Miss Lavinia Bleating's hall table. Anxious to make their delivery in time for Granny's Knitting Club Meeting, they take a perfunctory peek inside the box and hurry home, unaware that the ""cake'' is in fact the sumptuous hat just purchased by Lavinia's sister Muriel for an evening at the opera. Neither Muriel nor the Knitting Club discovers the mix-upuntil it is too late! If the story's premise is a bit improbable, no matter: Wild's droll illustrations carry the day. They capture an array of the sheeps' expressions, from Muriel's self-satisfied primping to the rather homely knitters' consternation upon tearing into their refreshments. The story's humor will appeal directly to young children, who will relish the knowledge of incipient disaster, and whose expectations for a chaotic finale will not be disappointed. Ages 3-7. (September)