Martha Moth Makes Socks

In this funny yarn from talented newcomer Evans, Martha Moth invites company for a birthday lunch, then eats all the garments she intended for her guests. The zaftig heroine sports a little bun, feathery antennae and orange wings. She starts to cook and realizes that the only thing in her cupboard is a jar of "dust" ("Great with wool!" says the label). She then goes shopping, picking up items such as "the finest polka-dot scarf she had ever smelled, two itchy socks, a shrunken sweater, and two different kinds of yarn. Delicious!" But at home, weak-willed Martha keeps "testing" her ingredients ("While this pan heats up, I will just see if this yarn tastes as good as it looks"); her already plump figure inflates to mountainous proportions. Just at the point Martha realizes she's eaten up everything but some mismatched socks, her affectionate friends arrive with a new jar of dust , and make the most of the socks. Evans's clean lines, bubbly shapes and flat, mottled areas of color display the same kind of tongue-in-cheek humor as the text, especially the store Martha visits (which looks suspiciously like a clothes closet), her thread-spool furniture and her electric stove. Crucially, Evans's cracked sense of humor looks to last longer than Martha's lunch ingredients. There should be enough for several more stories. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)