"Just how much does Mom want Daisy to eat her peas? What's it worth to her?"--Book jacket. It's dinnertime and Daisy knows what her mom is going to say even before she says it. "Eat your peas." Looking down at "the little green balls that were ganging up on her plate," Daisy says, "I don't like peas." And round one of the eternal pea battle has begun. Daisy's mother skips over the cajoling, begging, ordering phase, and jumps straight into barter mode. "If you eat your peas, you can have a dish of ice cream." Ha! We laugh at Mom's naiveté. No, Daisy won't settle for a simple dish of ice cream. The bargaining quickly escalates. Soon her subtly shrinking mother is promising 48 dishes of ice cream, permission to stay up past midnight, a reprieve from ever having to wash again, two new bikes, and a baby elephant. And still the ever-bigger Daisy responds, "I don't like peas." No question about it: this story will strike a chord with more than a few young readers and their long-suffering parents. Daisy's ultimate comeback will tickle readers of all ages, as she challenges her mother's own aversion to brussels sprouts. Nick Sharratt's crisp bright images of the gradually shifting power at the table are pleasing in their cartoon-like simplicity. Parents will want to keep a copy of this by the kitchen table to lighten up the often tense, wearying mealtime clash. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter PreSchool-K-An engaging if familiar premise fails to please in this one-joke picture book. When Daisy refuses to eat her peas, her mother tries to bribe her. She starts with a conventional ploy-eat your veggies, get dessert. Daisy digs in her heels and Mom's blandishments quickly balloon into the absurd. Daisy won't have to wash, go to bed, or attend school ever again, if only she complies. Her mother will buy her "-every-bike shop in the world, seventeen swimming pools-Africa-the earth, the moon, the stars, the sun-." As the desperate woman speaks, small pictures of the items she offers appear upon the pages, cluttering them, and making the text difficult to read. Still, Daisy stands firm. Finally, she offers a bargain: she will eat peas if her mother eats brussels sprouts. "'But I don't like brussels sprouts,' said Mom." Children may enjoy this turnabout, but it's unlikely that the story that leads up to it will hold their interest. The illustrations are brightly colored and feature occasional touches of humor, but they are generally static. Daisy's expression remains the same until the climax though the pictures of her grow larger. Chris Demarest's No Peas for Nellie (Macmillan, 1988; o.p.) is just one example of a more appealing battle of the wills. Lisa Dennis, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Tim Arnold Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved When not trying to convince his children to eat their peas, Kes Gray works in advertising. Eat Your Peas is his debut book. Mr. Gray and his family live in England. Nick Sharratt has written and illustrated many books for children, including Noisy Poems, written by Jill Bennett, and My Mom and Dad Make Me Laugh and The Animal Orchestra, both written by Mr. Sharratt himself. He lives in England.