Cousin Ruth's Tooth

The irrepressible Fister family (Rachel Fister's Blister) is back, this time in high dudgeon over a younger clan member's missing tooth. The hunt is on, with the supremely silly family's wild-goose chase charted in an ideal marriage of text and artwork. With a few whisks of her watercolor brush, the truly priceless Priceman outlines the frenzied bustle suggested by MacDonald's madcap chronicle of the Fisters' fruitless search. The rambunctiously sly rhyming text will tickle the funny bones of preschoolers (""Check the hatbox./ Check the cat box./ Look inside the VCR"") as well as of jaded elders (""Though they searched in ways most ruthless,/ after days they still were... toothless""). For added dash, Priceman has created a jazzy visual blend-dressed in outfits of yesteryear, Fisters scour such up-to-the-minute establishments as ""Teeth R' Us"" in search of a dental replacement. It's a perfect romp, and readers can only hope for more collaborations between these two. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)