MR. GREEN PEAS

Norman Slope doesn't know much about pets before he goes to nursery school, and his parents would have been happy if things had stayed that way. But from his first introduction to the classroom hamster, and his subsequent discovery that his classmates have dogs, cats, birds, etc., Norman embarks on a campaign. His suggestions of ordinary animals, however, are met with parental objections centered on allergies, fear (gerbils look like rats) and noise. When Mr. Slope brings home his boss's pet iguana for a month, Norman dubs the creature Mr. Green Peas for its vegetarian appetites and is delighted that it is the most ``outrageous'' pet in the world. Caseley (Mama, Coming and Going, 1994, etc.) adds to this age- old yearning of a child for a pet her characteristically merry illustrations, with their flat perspectives and tidily patterned rooms. If there are parts of the country in which an iguana is not as unusual as Mr. Green Peas suggests, it detracts not a whit from this good, light fun. (Picture book. 3-5)