The Enormous Snore

Miller's (Those Bottles!) nimble peasant-saves-the-kingdom tale provides an ideal canvas for Hawkes's (Then the Troll Heard the Squeak) loony humor and skewed artwork in this jolly outing. Separated from her family during a storm, resourceful young Letty winds up at Echo Ravine, where her calls for help bounce back, undelivered. A ``strange rumbling noise'' leads her to the castle, where the King's tremendous snore has the entire palace up in arms. Each night, ``the biggest brains'' in the kingdom stuff all manner of sharp and lumpy objects under the royal mattress in an vain attempt to rouse His Highness. Unnoticed amid the din, Letty slyly directs the royal procession back up to Echo Ravine, and there the king's rackety respirations offer up their own solution, boomerang style. Hawkes shares Miller's taste for the absurd, exaggerating the characters' distress (and relief) with rare comic flair. Letty's reunion with her family-enhanced by a feast with all the discarded objects from under the king's mattress-ends the tale with a bang. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)