Little Bo Peep's Library Book

This droll book deftly combines a cast of nursery rhyme characters with an actual lending library (three booklets are housed within its pages). Having lost her sheep, Little Bo Peep goes to the local library to research how to find them. Librarian Mother Goose erroneously directs her to the cooking section, where the Big Bad Wolf is salivating over a copy of Basic Little Girl Cookery. Readers can pull their own copy of the wolf's cookbook from a library shelf; the eight-page, index-card-size collection describes such treats as ""Riding Hood Sandwich"" and ""Muffet and Blackbird Pie."" After perusing the library's crime section, Little Bo Peep finds just the title she needs among the natural history books, next to British Dragons and Their Eggs by Saint George. Not only do the sheep come home wagging their tails behind them, but readers can see that they have been trailing the shepherdess for the entire book; the sheep even save her from the wolf (who, brandishing a knife and fork, stalks her through several spreads). Cowell's winning watercolors sparkle with wit, down to the last detail: the Three Bears roam the stacks, poring over porridge recipes; the cooking section boasts such volumes as the Queen of Heart's Tarts and Cooking with Fat by Mrs. A. Sprat. The book and its inserts all sport an authentic-looking bar code and sign-out card. Kids will want to keep this one in their own personal libraries. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)