ME 'N' STEVE

Joey's narrative of the adventures during an isolated year is a picaresque wise crack. There are nutty inventions like revolving wheels and baseball mitt glue, theatrics like a Tarzan leap into a laden refreshment table, helpful impulses like throwing a rubber octopus and a baby carriage into the tank during a frog-man demonstration. Joey and Steve live a kiddy joke book existence. The small-town, juvenile language is approximated by a generous sprinkling of apostrophes. Not at all subtle, the book does have little-boy humor, and it's strictly for laughs.