PUDMUDDLES

Nice Mr. Pudmuddle likes things backwards—dinner in the morning, putting on his clothes before he bathes, mixing up words like ``soodle noup'' or his own name. When he marries, the bride tosses her bouquet before the ceremony, which ends with ``Here Comes the Bride''; but their new house, thrown together by Messrs Hustle, Bustle, and Rush, has some glitches that even the Pudmuddles find inconvenient: reversed hot and cold faucets are fine, but the lack of a cellar is awkward—it would be ``handy in the winter...we could put the furnace there.'' York tells her charming story with a light touch that will recommend it to Amelia Bedelia graduates; Thiesing's smiling characters and entertaining details are in just the right comic spirit—a jacket take of a fully clothed Pudmuddle, sipping tea while sitting in a bubble bath, is sure to attract readers. (Young reader. 6-10)