MOLLY MULLETT

Molly Mullett crosses Black Gulch instead of climbing a beanstalk in order to steal a sword and rescue the villagers' gold from the ""roaring and reaching"" and ""howling and scowling"" ogre who has ""mashed and smashed"" the farmers' crops and ""toasted and roasted"" the soldiers' horses. But obviously this is a feminist revision of the classic adventure, the answer of a supposedly ""sniveling and driveling, bawling and squalling girl"" to those like Mr. Mullett who insist that Molly spend her time as her mother does, ""sweeping and weeping, cooking and looking, washing and wishing, frying and sighing, sitting and knitting."" All these rhymed or alliterative word pairs are no substitute for snappy style, but they probably do add a bit of readaloud bounce to the de-programming exercise, just as Molly's rag doll appearance and unionsuited ogre bring a light note to the dull gray and tan drawings.