I SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN BED!

The old burlesque blackout wail that found its way into the casual speech and patter of yesterday (and which we fondly cling to) was -- ""I shoulda stood in bed!"" According to the first person record of Sam's day, he really shoulda, even though he properly uses ""should have stayed"" throughout. Most children have had this kind of day. You get out of bed and put on your scout uniform but it's not scout day; you get your shoes knotted on the wrong feet; ruin your cereal with too much sugar; and go on to fall afoul of every authority figure in the school system plus the class tattletale. Sam's solution is in suspension. He takes another flyer at getting out of bed again during the noon recess with laughably satisfying results. Syd Hoff's trademark cartoons are perfectly suited to the dead pan text. This should do well in bookstores as a quick pick-up gift and could do well in libraries that can afford a fast laugh, especially since it can double as easy reading. If it don't, it shoulda.