BASIL BRUSH GETS A MEDAL

Firmin borrows from the traditional cumulative tale in this latest easy reader about fox Basil and his friend Harry the mole. Lined up with various high-achieving humans to receive a medal for being helpful, Basil learns that the ceremony is delayed because the princess, who is awarding the medals, is waiting for milk for her porridge. So Basil and Harry go to the farmer (""the milkmaids are waiting but the cows have not come""), the cowman (""I would bring the cows but the bridge is broken""), etc., until everything is taken care of--and Harry gets a medal too, as he has set the chain in motion by providing a nail. (Never mind how that ties in.) A better story than Firmin ever thought up on his own, but synthetic and superfluous this time round.