THE DAY WE DANCED IN UNDERPANTS

I see London, I see France, I see Papa’s underpants! Poor Papa’s fancy dancing pants almost survive the trip from his home to the palace, where he and his family have been invited to picnic with the King of France. But the twirling and skipping and fried-egg heat of the journey take their toll, and when Papa tries “to take his chair... / BRRRRRRPT!! / we heard a thunderous tear!” Papa’s embarrassment inspires the King to decree that all of the many overdressed attendees should shed their burdensome regalia, and in a blur of “stripes and checks...hearts and bows,” all assembled kick up their heels in their knickers. Wilson’s easy rhyming text is amusing, and Stock’s now-signature watercolor and sketchy pen-and-ink pictures are comic and cunning (look for crown-wearing cows and kitties and Puss-in-Boots among the courtiers). Not a necessity, but a colorful summertime beat-the-heat story—and what child can resist a story about skivvies? (Picture book. 4-7)