BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!
by Jonathan Shipton & illustrated by Michael Foreman
A wide-eyed preschooler explains that Mom is in a bad mood; she has so much to do that she can't read with him, or play— she's ``chained to the kitchen sink.'' Left on his own, the child decides to tidy up his own belongings, depicted in creative disarray in Foreman's colorful watercolors. Then, tiptoeing downstairs, he finds Mom weeping into the dishwater, wipes away her tears, and leads her out into the sunshine—''Just in time'' to share its beauty. Foreman's illustrations are more slapdash than usual for this fine artist but sympathetic. A touching vignette. (Picture book. 3-7)