LITTLE GRUNT AND THE BIG EGG

The popular author sets a predictable story among cavemen, adds dinosaurs, and terms the result a fairy tale—certainly a loose term at the best of times. The Grunts are expecting the Ugga-Wugga tribe for brunch, but what to feed them? Little Grunt brings home a giant egg, which won't do because it hatches. The resulting dinosaur, "George," doesn't make a good pet; but after being banished for being inconveniently huge, "he" returns to save the Grunts from an erupting volcano—and proves to be not George but Georgina. The illustrations are typical dePaola. The kids will lap it up, as they do TV cartoons of the same undemanding quality.