The boy who cried underpants!

Imaginations get a good, giggle-inducing workout after a librarian tells a somewhat sanitized version of the familiar Aesop fable, prompting plush skunk Stinky to weigh in with a rousing and considerably embroidered version involving stenches galore, an epidemic of split trousers, and much shouting of "underpants!" and "stinky underpants!" Along the way, the authors slip in wordplay, bits of insight into the art of storytelling, and artfully indirect instruction for young readers in stretching their own imaginations. A riotous version of the national anthem is a particular highlight: "God bless my underwear, / my only pair. / Stand beside them / and guide them, / as they sit in a heap by the chair . . ." Patrick illustrates this crowd-pleaser with frequent line drawings, often in sequential panels, featuring figures of all ages with many grown-ups hilariously sporting elegant tops over tighty-whities or polka-dot shorts. Stuffy gatekeepers may turn up their noses, but it would be hard to top this outing for child appeal; after all, as Stinky rightly observes: "Children see the world at butt level."