BAA-CHOO!

A sniffly sheep develops a tantalizing “Baa . . . ahhh . . . ,” but the “choo” proves elusive in this rhymed barnyard caper. Wearing a garishly striped shirt and an expression of extreme misery, Sam the lamb seeks aid and finds it. But it takes the combination of a tickly feather from Gwen the hen, pepper from Sig the pig, and a cloud of dust kicked up by Franny Nannygoat to do the deed at last. Sam’s mighty blast blows all of his helpers almost out of the picture, though not so far away that they can’t all offer a secular “Bless you!” at the end. A juicy addition to such explosive classics as Ruth Brown’s Big Sneeze (1985) and Patricia Thomas’s “Stand Back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” (1971). (Easy reader. 5-7)