Queen Daisy's feet just get itchy for fun. Ellis's (The Several Lives of Orphan Jack
) clever text and Petricic's (On Tumbledown Hill
) amusing ink-and-watercolor illustrations juxtapose playfulness and propriety with uproarious results, and children will be delighted with the queen's propensity to get herself unintentionally into royal trouble. Petricic appropriately focuses most of the illustrations literally on feet alone, as the courtiers line up to dance or as Queen Daisy's feet kick off proper monarch shoes in favor of fuzzy dog slippers or sandals to show off her purple painted toenails. But when the monarch's feet haul off and kick a visiting bullying king in the shins, she (and her subjects) feels she must address her problem. "The queen and the queen's feet invited all the sages, wise women, wizards, fairy godmothers, and, of course, footmen, in the land to a meeting." Ellis's text brims with puns and eccentric details, and readers will revel in the wise advice of the Queen's counselors: "For one hour each day the queen's feet ruled." With its whimsical humor and its support for the importance of rebellion (in small doses), this foot-stomping read-aloud will please plenty of fidgety youngsters. All ages. (Apr.)
