Max and Sally Phenomenal

Max and Sally, third-grade classmates, live perfectly normal lives until one day they are given a magic phone--actually just a receiver--by a stranger in payment for helping him find his missing eyeglasses. When the two friends discover that anything they say into the phone comes true, they embark on a series of antic adventures. They turn their favorite dog into a boy so he can go on a school field trip, they shrink to fight strep germs in their friend's throat, and they give animals the gift of human speech. And the best part of it is that at the end of the book, the pair--despite a close call with a sly crocodile--still have a tight grip on their phenomenal phone. Born's witty, outrageous illustrations are matched perfectly by Macourek's engagingly funny narrative. The book's excessive length, however, may prove problematic for some young readers: the text alone occupies 38 pages of small print, which seems to belie the picture-book format. Ages 6-11. (Nov.)