THE BIG LITTLE SNEEZE

The sweetness of succor threatens to suffocate Max the little bear when his friends come to his aid—even though he’s not hurting. Max emerges from his winter sleep to a meadow full of dandelions. They tickle his nose: “achoo!” Mole hears the nasal detonation and rushes off to get compresses: “It’s no fun to have a cold,” he says. Next thing you know, Rabbit is helping apply the compresses and fashioning a leg splint. Badger rubs some sickly green salve into Max’s belly, and the beaver clan heave Max into their pond when they mistake the sweat on his brow, a result of his friends having moved him too close to the fire, for a fever that needs breaking. Finally, Max shouts, “Leave me alone!” and shuffles back to his den for a daylong recuperative nap. The friends square things away the next day: When misunderstandings are carried out with such enthusiasm, no one feels aggrieved. Reider (Snail Started It, not reviewed) gives a lesson in listening—and, for that matter, speaking up—that is much more fun than being told to get the wax out. Slawski’s (Captain Jonathan Sails the Sea, 1997, etc.) goofy art keeps apace of the jet-propelled story, but also manages to display a willowy linework that lends a tender frailty to the work. (Picture book. 5-8)