CHIPMUNK!

``All Puss wanted was a place to put her chipmunk so it couldn't get away,'' begins this comically succinct reprise of a conflict of interests in a country household. Puss brings her lively catch in through her own door; ``all the chipmunk wanted was a place to hide,'' but that's not to be: its flight and the cat's pursuit disrupt the entire family (and a plant, a lamp, and a castle of blocks, whose toppling makes a fine jacket illustration) until the little creature runs up Dad (``All I want is to get it off me!''), who walks outdoors with the chipmunk on his head, and it scampers up a tree. And ``All Puss wanted was to catch another chipmunk!'' Smith's vivid realism and energetic perspectives accentuate the action and humor, while his bright colors and the perky, neatly rounded text recall Pat Hutchins's early books. Just right to share with the younger preschoolers, as well as a book beginning readers will enjoy. (Picture book. 3- 7)