POTBELLIED POSSUMS

Trim, fastidious Otto the possum mocks his potbellied, garbage-loving sister Gertrude until the day she leaves early for her favorite dump. Stranded and scared of the dark, Otto encounters a tough raccoon and a nasty fox before he finds Gertrude and confesses both his fear and his dependence on her. This slight tale of serio-comic sibling friction is almost redeemed by the sheer ludicrousness of a well-dressed possum family in fussy pen and ink, plus Gertrude's lip-smacking delight in eggshells and bread crusts. But Winthrop's telling leaves only the drollery of a dress-up game.