Short takes: Children's books

A PIPKIN OF PEPPER by Helen Cooper
(Doubleday, $36.95)

A new book by Helen Cooper is great cause for excitement among smaller booklovers. Think the Kate Greenaway-winning Pumpkin Soup. Here's the sequel and, while slightly less special, is still has heaps of charm. (Available November 5)

CHIMNEY-LESS AT CHRISTMAS by Anna-Miringa Scott, Errol McLeary
(Scholastic, $17.99)

How will Santa do his thing when so many houses are chimney-less? This hot issue at last finds its way into literature. Best of all, though, is the accompanying CD, which not only reads the story, but sings it, and also raps it! Very popular in our house.

THE BIG BLOCK OF CHOCOLATE by Janet Slater Bottin, Jeffy James
(Scholastic, $15.99)

Vividly illustrated book about the universal love of chocolate and the delight — and danger — of secretly eating it all oneself. Simple repetitive text. As was the case in Jeffy James' previous book, The Fizzy Orange Soft Drink, the ants win the day.

GREEDY CAT AND THE SCHOOL PET SHOW by Joy Cowley, Robyn Belton (Scholastic, $15.99)

What carries this delightful story (a new one in Cowley's Greedy Cat series) is the powerful, believably feline personality of its central character. Fat, self-interested, opportunistic yet lovable nevertheless, Greedy Cat steals more than just the show.

NANNY MIHI'S TREASURE HUNT by Melanie Drewery, Tracy Duncan (Reed, $14.99)

Also available in Maori, even the English version brings a sense of a bilingual, Maori-flavoured world. Nanny Mihi's grandchildren have come to stay, and she sends them on a search for a box of treasures, which isn't at all what they expected.