THE LEPRECHAUN’S GOLD

Substandard work from a usually reliable picture-book duo. Having learned harping but not generosity from Old Pat, Young Tom flees in terror when a leprechaun’s cry of distress comes from the dark woods. Old Pat, however, rises to help, and at a subsequent harper’s competition, Young Tom’s strings break, while Old Pat plays winning music on an instrument suddenly turned to gold. So Young Tom finds “generosity growing in his heart.” Cole’s portly leprechaun looks like a refugee from a Keebler ad, and not only doesn’t the artist bother to make his harps look realistic, he leaves the same number of strings on Old Pat’s even after Young Tom has maliciously snapped one earlier on. Likewise, the talented Edwards also leaves her chops at home: “Old Pat was humble and willing to play his music for free for those he knew had not the means to pay. ‘Foolish old man,’ scoffed Young Tom. ‘What use is a gift if not to make you rich.’ ” Stick with Teresa Bateman’s similarly themed (and titled) Leprechaun Gold (1998). (Picture book. 7-9)