STORMY WEATHER

While Maud fixes her own breakfast and the baby wails, her parents are shown—in soft, expressive illustrations—bitterly quarreling. Then nice Mrs. Perkins, green leaves waving from her bonnet, knocks on the window to invite Maud out. The two wander the woods, munching berries, until leaves fall and Winter (a white-bearded old man) arrives with his rake to fetch them. Maud protests; Mrs. Perkins reassures her; and Maud, knowing that ``we have a whole cupboard full of [home-canned] blackberries at home,'' returns to find her family at peace. Like Brock Cole's Alpha and the Dirty Baby, this British import deals imaginatively with loving parents who sometimes have frightening disagreements; though this is less creative, its gentler tone will be more appropriate for some children. The author's appealing watercolors are notable for their beautiful composition. (Picture book. 4-8)