A Proper Little Lady

One day, Annabella Jones decides that she will make herself into a proper little lady. She puts on a fancy blue dress, with a frilly petticoat and knickers underneath. Next she dons lacy socks, shiny black shoes, a big straw hat, white lace gloves, and completes her outfit with a long gold chain. As the bedecked Annabella parades down the street, we hear the ``swish, swish, swish'' of her dress, the ``tap, tap, tap'' of her shoes and the ``chink, chink, chink'' of her gold chain. But soon she is called upon to rescue a cat from a tree, which marks the beginning of the proper little lady's undoing. In the end, her torn dress makes a ``flop, flop, flop'' sound, her dirty shoes go ``clunk, clunk, clunk'' and her broken gold chain says ``snap, snap, snap.'' Annabella may have failed at being a lady, but she will succeed in finding her way into readers' hearts: both text and pictures make her a thoroughly winning girl. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)