PISH AND POSH

Much ado about very little in this incoherently sketchy easy reader. Finding in succession a copy of The Fairy Handbook, a magic wand, and a packet of fairy dust on her porch, impulsive young Posh tries to do the dishes and find a neighbor’s missing pooch by magic. Not being one to read instructions, however, she fills the kitchen with suds, discovers a mermaid in the bathtub, and creates sundry other mishaps. Luckily, she lives with Pish, a more methodical “best friend,” but also, to judge from the resemblance in Bottner’s rapidly drawn illustrations, either her mother or her big sister, who reins her in and organizes the clean-up. Pish and Posh both sport pointy, doglike ears in the course of this episode—which, along with the fit-and-start pacing may leave young readers wondering what they’re missing. Not much. (Easy reader. 6-7)