Miss Butterpat Goes Wild

Although the premise of a teacher secretly becoming a fearless adventurer works for Indiana Jones, it does not succeed in these first installments of the Teachers' Secrets series. During her summer vacation, the presumably dull Miss Butterpat pretends to be a sailor, goes to South America, explores the jungle, joins an Indian tribe, defeats a wicked bandit and returns home just in time to start school again. When she explains how she has spent the summer, her students simply laugh. In the second story, Mr. Scatter's pupils have no idea that he is actually the Magnificent Scarlotti, the renowned magician who performs at a school assembly. Although the premise has potential, neither author offers more than an ultimately tiresome liturgy of particular exploits. Chamberlain redeems these volumes to some degree with her puckish illustrations, which energetically incorporate dialogue balloons, sidebars and plenty of grinning characters. Ages 6-9. (Dec.)