BEWARE OF THE AUNTS!
by Pat Thomson & illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark
The middle-child narrator has an ordinary enough family until it comes to aunts, of whom there are simply too many, each with some disconcerting trait: one kisses too much, another eats huge amounts; Aunt Zara makes not only her own odd garments but things for her reluctant nieces; there's even one aunt with all the appearance of being a witch. Thomson's wry, succinct text combines nicely with Clark's ebulliently expressive pictures for an amusing survey of idiosyncracies that children find inconvenient or embarrassing. Only the ingenuous greed of the conclusion seems a touch unimaginative: ``You can't have too many aunts at Christmas!'' Still, there's enough lighthearted merriment here (along with the social satire) to make this a worthwhile purchase. (Picture book. 5-8)