JAM

Mr. and Mrs. Castle and three small Castles ("more like Cottages, really") live in a white house with a big lawn. Their lives change a bit when Mrs. Castle, an atomic scientist, finds a job helping to develop "an electronic medicine to cure sunspots." Amiable Mr. Castle becomes an efficient househusband. In his baggy sweater, he accomplishes a great deal. Between cups of tea—the Castles are distinctly British—he bakes bread and cake, plants cabbages and hangs the dishes on the clothesline to dry. But Mr. Castle's work really begins when ripe plums start dropping from a tree in the yard. Thrilled at the prospect of another project, Mr. Castle makes plum jam one day. . .and the following day, and the day after that. Finally every container in the house—vases, glasses, even the teapot—are filled with jam. Besides serving the delicacy at every meal, clever Mr. Castle fixes the leaking roof with it and uses it to restick the bathroom tiles. Not surprisingly, images of the omnipresent substance begin to creep into the dreams of every member of the jam-weary family. And—not surprisingly—all of the Castles have begun to grow quite round from their overindulgence. So Mr. Castle suggests a "game on the lawn" to get some exercise. As they play, he hears a soft thud on the roof. This can only mean one thing, and the last page confirms the reader's suspicions: on it is a picture of a very full plum tree, a pleased Mr. Castle and a worried baby Castle. "The plums were ripe again." Mahy and Craig make a smashing team. The colorful, detailed drawings convey the same humor and high spirits as the text. And for anyone whose appetite is whetted by the story, a recipe for plum jam appears on the endpapers.