y without a villain. No fighting, no bloodshed, but still exciting and fast-moving. It is a tale that stretches the imagination: the reader must accept a juggling lion (six cans of root beer at once!) and a sixteen-footed Gazoo. Not a hard assignment for a child, but perhaps a bit more difficult for a worldly grown-up.

Take heart, you staid elders. The story has elements running throughout that should appeal to adults as well as children (how 'bout mice that paint in the fashion of Picasso, Matisse, Grant Wood and even Toulouse Lautrec?) because the author knew that if a story IS A REALLY GOOD ONE, parents everywhere would be commanded by their children to read it aloud again and again. And maybe even once more...

For those of you who have never experienced pickle-chiffon pie, here is the recipe:

2 cups imagination

3 teaspoons humor

Exciting illustrations, one per page

At least one dragon

2 tablespoons silliness

Combine: 1 beautiful princess with 1 hero, well seasoned

A pinch of moral values

Mix together in a lively plot