Picky Mrs. Pickle

Persnickety Mrs. Pickle is very particular about her tastes. "I like the things I like, I'm very sure of that. I needn't ever change because I'm happy where I'm at." And what is it Mrs. Pickle likes? Pickles, of course. Pickles, and pickle-pigmented things. From her emerald green eyelids to her grassy green shoes, this woman exudes pickle. But is her green conviction masking a deeper fear of trying new things? Her stubborn niece Sophie Claire thinks so, and proposes a challenge for her aunt: try a tiny bite of something new, and "I'll walk your dog for one whole year and polish all your shoes." How could Mrs. Pickle turn down an offer like that?

Anyone who is shy to try anything new can relate to Mrs. Pickle's pickle. Would that we all had a Sophie Claire in our lives, who brooks no nonsense, and lovingly escorts us out of our comfortable ruts. Christine Schneider's fabulously bright illustrations will perk up the most finicky consumer. Everyone will cheer as Mrs. Pickle opens her green-shadowed eyes (literally and figuratively--her eyes are snootily closed up until Sophie Claire's eye-opening proposition) to her niece's more adventuresome world of eggplant ripple ice cream and sky blue shoes. (Ages 3 to 10) --Emilie Coulter