THE SEVENTEEN GERBILS OF CLASS 4-A

It's not surprising to read on the jacket flap that Hooks is a textbook writer--for not only is this whole classroom-set story an undisguised lesson in gerbil behavior and care, but there is even a math puzzle when the seventeen gerbils' three co-owners try to figure out how to divide them, and a vocabulary lesson when the problem occasions their use of the word dilemma. Gerbil facts which couldn't be worked into the story are appended as pages from ""Chris's science notebook""; it's all swift and breezy, but pet owners we know prefer to get their information straight.