UNREAL!

Australia's answer to Robert Munsch and Barry Polisar offers a collection of wacky tales, each featuring a ghost, a skeleton, or at least a twist of magic. In ``Without a Shirt,'' Brian's dog keeps fetching human bones that try to rearrange themselves; the ``Skeleton on the Dunny'' haunts an outhouse; young Anton saves his beloved lighthouse with the help of musical ghosts playing ``Lighthouse Blues.'' In ``The Strap Box Flyer,'' a huckster sells wonderful glue that works on anything—for just four hours; Greg's composter dad kills a plague of flies with his aromatic ``Cow Dung Custard.'' David has super powers when he wears his pink ``Wunderpants''; and, thanks to his new ``Lucky Lips,'' every female Marcus meets must kiss him—fine, until he falls into the pigpen. A shadowy, macabre jacket illustration makes an effective visual hook for a collection with broad humor and twisted plotlines that will especially appeal to readers without the patience for mood pieces or complex character development. A companion volume, Uncanny, is being published simultaneously. (Short stories. 11-13)