THREE UP A TREE

Spider, Sam and Lolly of Three by the Sea are back, with some competitive storytelling in a tree house. The boys don't want to let Lolly up because she didn't help with construction, so she bribes them with a story. It has a monster, but "The end was too sweet." Spider's story, about a fox who tries to horn in on a hen's dinner plans, isn't bad, but Sam tops both by including the characters from the two previous stories and introducing a robbery. Then, more important than agreeing whose story was best, they decide to ". . .hear them again." The snappy dialogue should keep new readers chuckling; the threesome's example may even start them debating the merits of stories they read. Marshall's lively, cartoon-like illustrations are just right.