BUNION BURT

There’s no lack of advice for this poor little boy. Bunion Burt, readers are told in tightly rhyming verse, has “feet that hurt. / They pinched and poked and pained him. / The folks all knew / ’Bout Burt’s feet too— / His bunions had nicknamed him.” Everyone in his life has a cure. Mama Myrt gives him Goop for the Feet, to little effect. Burt passes up a big wedge of cake to roam the family farm in search of a solution. The sweet sow Pert recommends a wallow in the mud, Grandma Gert orders a bath and Cousin Kurt says the sun can cure Burt’s bunions. As depicted in Davis’s appealingly quirky watercolor-and-acrylic illustrations, none of these remedies helps. Burt also tries ice and toenail polish (this last courtesy of cute sister Vert) to no avail. It takes Pappy Spurt to come up with the happy solution that young listeners will likely already have thought of. A bouncy rib-tickler, best for preschoolers. (Picture book. 3-6)