Cottonball Colin

In another winner from a standout British team (Willis and Ross were previously paired for Tadpole's Promise ), Colin's worrywart mother, seeing danger at every turn, insists he stay indoors. He can't run, lest he fall; he can't go out in spring, lest he get wet, nor in autumn, lest “a chestnut fall on his head.” Finally his grandmother wryly suggests that his mother wrap Colin up in cotton, an idea his mother accepts with alacrity. Virtually mummified in downy cotton, Colin finally goes outside—inadvertently setting in motion a series of heart-stopping adventures that ultimately convince his mother that he really can survive in “the great, wide world.” Ross's elegant watercolor and ink drawings take Colin from domestic comedy to thrilling action-adventure without a hitch, and make his transformation from nebbish to cool dude totally believable. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)