There will be a good deal of pro and con discussion about this story this fall wherever children's book trade people and librarians gather, very much the way there was about Stuart Little. After two readings we feel that most children are going to be charmed with its story about Peter who, for some inexplicable, glandular reason, started growing smaller from the time he was seven until now, at thirteen, he is only four inches tall! And only such a good fantasy writer as Lawson could write about his adventures so plausibly -- for the plot is lifted almost directly, it seems, from the pages of the much despised comics. Peter's father is in the State Department in Washington and Peter's trip abroad to locate the deadly atomic granules of a mad scientist and save the world is handled as a broad and suspenseful farce. He travels on the back of a tough but kind- hearted and competent sea gull to whom he owes his life several times over, and the specially fitted cockpit and cabin in which he travels are lots of fun. The encounter with the mad scientist is thrilling and what happens when Peter gets rid of the deadly grains is well told. Kids will like it and it can be used as an antidote for the comics. And the author's pictures get better and better as the story progresses.
