Dear Daisy, Get Well Soon

Bound to lift the spirits of any bedridden child, Smith's (There's a Witch Under the Stairs) upbeat tale is a get-well card in book form. Peter, wearing a safari hat, pulls a wagon filled with stuffed animals to his next-door neighbor Daisy's house. But Daisy has the chicken pox and cannot come out to play. Smith then combines a counting lesson with the days of the week as Peter's toy creatures alternately spring to life--full-size and in increasing numbers--to deliver gifts from Peter to his sick pal: one elephant delivers a homemade card, a pair of giraffes delivers two bouquets of flowers, a trio of hippos delivers three coloring books, etc. Youngsters will find some diverting surprises in the balloon-bright artwork: having departed Peter's room as couriers, the once life-size animals reappear as stuffed toys, once again, on Daisy's bed and, in the final scene, litter the lawn as the now healthy girl and her buddy play safari. Labeled pictures of the featured animals line the walls of Peter's room and provide clues as to which full-size animal will appear next. Just the ticket for a homebound young patient. Ages 2-6. (Apr.)