THE LEAF MEN AND THE BRAVE GOOD BUGS

As an old lady lies abed and her garden fails with her, a doughty band of doodlebugs—`` `Tiny of body but brave of heart, we will finish what we start!' ''—climbs the tallest tree in search of the elusive Leaf Men, hoping they can set things right. Indeed they can: Appearing just in time for a short but sharp battle in which the evil Spider Queen is slain, the Leaf Men, ``gardeners of a grand and elfin sort,'' doctor all the wilted foliage, then bring the old woman back from the brink by presenting her with a toy lost in the garden long ago. A squad of lilliputian Jolly Green Giants, the emerald Leaf Men cut robust, heroic figures, hands on hips, long tendrils curling gracefully from their bald pates; the Spider Queen and her twiggy cohorts emit a suitably malicious air. Joyce (Santa Calls, 1993, etc.) places the action in a jungle of looming vegetation lit by the smiling moon that sails over nearly every scene. Small scale, grand adventure. (Picture book. 7-9)