MAYBE A BAND-AID WILL HELP

Unexceptional--but nicely crafted, fetching, and warming. Sarah's doll Abigail loses her leg; Mama promises to sew it back on, ""but not now."" So, while Mama finishes a rocking horse for the craft fair, Sarah and her friends tuck Abigail into Mama's sewing basket in the closet--a visual felicity on which the book can almost be said to depend (Abigail is safe and comfortable, but lonely). When Mama finishes the horse, she has to do the laundry (Sarah offers to wear dirty clothes); next morning, she has ""to clean the house first""--and blows up at the children's messy efforts to help. That's when Sarah tries vainly to reattach Abigail's leg with a band-aid, and to sew the leg back on, herself. (The text is a mite cute: ""Abigail was very brave. I stuck my finger. I tried to be brave, too."") Then Mama brings comfort, and the offer of a game ""with Abigail""--""Hospital!"" gets Abigail fixed, by ""Dr. Mama,"" ""as good as new."" Abigail-in-the-sewing-basket apart, the illustrations are mostly notable for a quaintly-old-fashioned/trendy-modern mix (Three Bears furniture, Mama in jeans), and for being slightly winsome without being adorable. A bit of a sparkle, overall, distinguishes it from the mundane.