THE MAGIC FINGER

Remember Ruth McKenney and her sister Eileen at camp? When they put the black wart curse on the trembling soft ball teammate. And she busted out with a pimple? It's always fun and most girls try it, half believing they're junior witches. This story plays straight to that. The narrator, an eight year old girl has a wicked finger ("Zak") triggered by a rampant temper. When she pointed it at the Greggs she was seeing red at their insensitive bloodlust. The Greggs shot deer and birds and laughed about it. The pointing finger gave the Gregg family 24 hours of being small birds. Their attempts to nest, feed and avoid getting shot are quite funny. So are the black and white illustrations of William Pene Dubois.