FRITZ AND THE MESS FAIRY

The strange bedfellows that occur in creative disorder are always good for a laugh; Wells makes the device even funnier here by compounding it. Fritz, a badger, stows the mess in his room under the bed and the food he doesn't like under his seat cushion; then he makes havoc of his family's belongings as he gathers supplies for his science project. Suddenly, his experiment invokes the Mess Fairy—a winged pig who emerges like a genie from his beaker and goes on to flights of messiness that appall even Fritz. Fortunately, he figures out how to reverse his inadvertent spell, then embarks on a night-long frenzy of putting everything back to rights before fixing his family a magnificent breakfast. This isn't Wells at her most imaginative, but she makes the most of a proven theme, capturing the subtleties of Fritz's reactions as well as the broader humor and offering a final comical turn that lightens its message. Fine for group sharing. (Picture book. 4-8)*justify no*