BUSY O'BRIEN AND THE CATERPILLAR PUNCH BUNCH

In a sequel to Busy O'Brien and the Great Bubble Gum Blowout (1990), Busy and friends Mitch and Roe can almost taste the 30 free ice-cream cones they'll receive for nominating the winner in a ``Good Neighbor of the Year'' contest (they'll get to name a new Flavor of the Month, too)—but then stuck-up rival Jolly Van Pelt steps forward with her own candidate. Busy and Jolly both try bribing the contest committee with snacks, but Busy's mother (who's also the mayor) vetoes that. A tie is announced, which is bad enough; worse, Busy's nominee—old Mr. Fichter, the fix-it man—is going to have his tonsils removed and won't be able to attend the awards ceremony. Can Busy figure out a way to take the ceremony to him in the hospital, while keeping Jolly from hogging the proceedings? It all adds up to a simply told tale about an energetic young organizer who, with the help of friends and spurred on by thoughts of Double Fudge Delight, deals successfully with a series of minor crises. Unexceptional but mildly satisfying. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 8-11)