THE PINK PUPPY

Somewhere there's a story, but it's MORAL most of the way--and a dubiously developed moral at that. A little Cherokee Indian girl loses her mother and laments that ""everything I love dies or goes off."" Frustrated in her attempt to win a pink puppy at the Fair, she adopts an imaginary replacement who becomes her confidante and companion. The children tease, her father worries, Cindy withdraws--until Teacher comes with an authentic stuffed animal as consolation. A little family counseling and a confab with Grandmother solve the remaining problems, and Cindy opts for her real baby brother over her make-believe pet: ""It couldn't love me back and nobody could play with us because nobody could see it. The baby can love me back."" Which is what Teacher had been trying to tell her all along. A stripped-down, standard reader style and large, coarse illustrations complete the dismal picture.