THE SATURDAY ESCAPE

All play and no work gets Jack the bear, Angie the rabbit, and Melden the mouse in some potentially hot water until they realize the folly of their ways. Story hour at the library looms, but Jack’s room is a fright. “No story hour for you until you pick up your room,” says his mom. Jack shoves the whole catastrophe under his bedcovers. He goes to gather Angie—a very tubular bunny; indeed, all the creatures have a disarmingly tubular shape that instantly endears them to the reader—but Angie has to practice the piano. They trick her father by playing a tape of her practicing the piano. At Melden’s, they leave it to his young and reckless brothers to finish the paint job he has been asked to do. At the library story hour, the three young critters experience remorse over their various subterfuges. They’re lucky they don’t get caught red-handed, and even learn that a measure of teamwork gets their respective jobs done in no time. Responsibility doesn’t seem so onerous when it is shared among pals, especially pals of such cartoony good cheer who also listen—albeit belatedly—to their conscience. (Picture book. 4-7)