Day Hans Got His Way CL

This vivacious first book from a husband-and-wife team retells a Norwegian folktale about the war between the sexes. Hans, a ``master complainer,'' demands to trade places with his wife, Gertrude, for a single day. Why should she sit at home in leisure, he asks her, when he's out toiling in the fields? Naturally, Hans's attempts to keep house go disastrously and comically awry. A pink pig races through spilled cream as Hans rages after him; three geese honk out an alarm as the family cow dangles from the roof of the house; Hans sours the well and winds up falling down the chimney head-first into a kettle of porridge just as Gertrude calmly returns home and restores order. Debby Atwell's oil paintings, generous with Wedgewood-like blues, are reminiscent of Norwegian folk art but frequently are also given softly diffused back lighting. Pictures and text brim with brio right until the worthy punch line at the end. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)