NO DOGS ALLOWED

The author of Family Dinner (1992, reviewed 12/15/91) brings the same humorously perceptive eye to five stories for younger readers, each a revealing incident involving Edward Fraser (five) and his older brother Jason. Denied a dog because of their allergies, Edward pretends (to Jason's embarrassment) to be one, until neighbors complain about the barking; he makes friends with a whopping but amiable new fourth-grade neighbor (``Killer Kelly''); at Dad's insistence, the family goes on a wilderness vacation, only to interrupted by a motorcyclers' gathering. Here, Cutler is better at setting up amusing situations than at capitalizing on them: in the funniest story, both boys need glasses, to Edward's glee and Jason's consternation. Finally admitting that he needs them for baseball, Jason settles on prescription ``shades'' as a face-saver; the story trails off in the midst of a dubious scheme to earn them. Still, the dialogue is on target, and the brothers make an engaging pair whose antics are sure to entertain Cleary and Hurwitz fans. (Fiction. 7-10)