A BAD CASE OF STRIPES

Camilla Cream wants to fit in, so she conforms, denying herself the things she craves—lima beans, for example—if the other kids frown upon them. She wakes up one morning covered head to toe with party-colored stripes—not the state of affairs aspired to by a conventionalist, but it's only the beginning of her troubles. Her schoolmates call out designs and Camilla's skin reacts: polka dots, the American flag—``poor Camilla was changing faster than you could change channels on a T.V.'' Specialists are called in, as are experts, healers, herbalists, and gurus. An environmental therapist suggests she ``breathe deeply, and become one with your room.'' Camilla melts into the wall. It takes a little old lady with a handful of lima beans to set Camilla to rights. Shannon's story is a good poke in the eye of conformity—imaginative, vibrant, and at times good and spooky—and his emphatic, vivid artwork keeps perfect pace with the tale. (Picture book. 5-9)