THE SHRUNKEN HEAD

Cazet returns with a third reader in the Grandpa Spanielson’s Chicken Pox Stories series. Barney’s still itchy, and after Grandma drives off to market, Grandpa lets loose with another consummately distracting whopper. Seems once upon a time, he was a famous explorer. As he and Dr. Storkmeyer bicycled deep in the jungle, a horde of Pooches (diminutive canine headhunters) ambushed them, shooting tiny arrows into their tires. The yarn lampoons B-movie plotting, as amorous, extra-large Queen Peekatmyknees, rebuffed by Grandpa, orders Dr. Storkmeyer dipped headfirst in a cauldron of shrink juice. The pastel watercolors of the sickroom give way to bold jungle greens and the browns of a slew of busy Pooches, whose nose bones don’t evoke terror so much as chew toys. Dr. Storkmeyer does suffer a temporary noggin reduction (handily amended by Grandpa’s bicycle pump), but it all wraps nicely, with Grandpa and Dr. S. trading the tale’s best one-liners at the close. Kids will itch for a fourth. (Easy reader. 5-8)