Pookins Gets Her Way

Pookins Gets Her Way

Pookins always manages to get her way until the day she meets a gnome who can grant her every wish.From School Library JournalPreSchool-Grade 1 Pookins, used to getting her own way through yelling, throwing apples, and making faces, meets a gnome who grants her three wishes. But her wish to become a flower backfires when she finds it to be a dreary existence, so Pookins trades her bad habits for freedom. The story borders on being too cute, starting with the name ``Pookins,'' and the plot is not original. The cartoon-like pictures also suffer from cuteness, with fat little people and lots of pinks and yellows. But humor manages to redeem the book. Preschoolers will enjoy Pookins' naughtiness, including whizzing through the living room on roller skates, and her humorous facial expressions as she realizes her wish is a mistake. Although not as funny as Lester's The Wizard, the Fairy and the Magic Chicken (Houghton, 1983), this will serve well as additional storytime material. Kathleen Odean, formerly at San Rafael Public Library, Calif.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.