More!

In this snappy picture book about exploring limits, a rambunctious boy tests his patient mom with requests of ""more!""--more hide-and-seek, more stories, more ice cream. When Billy's mother finally says, ""That's enough!"" he stomps off to sulk: ""I've had enough of YOU!"" he shouts. Alone in his bedroom, Billy embarks on a high-flying fantasy with his imaginary lion friend. Whisked away to a kind of Candyland version of Where the Wild Things Are, Billy enters a realm of endless sweets and plenty of ""crackling and crashing, banging and bashing... leaping and romping."" There Billy finally fills his activity quotient and is ready to tumble off to bed--and home and Mom. Clark's (I Love You, Blue Kangaroo!) realistic exchanges and comfortable pacing suggest knowledge of a struggle well-known to many young readers and their parents. In her exuberant paintings, Billy's fantasy world is a whizzing merry-go-round of confetti colors and amusement-park-type delights. And the story's sweet ending reassures children and presiding adults that there is light at the end of the tantrum tunnel. Ages 2-6. (Oct.)