With illustrations by Caldecott award winner Paul O. Zelinsky, the anthology will have readers rolling in the aisles over 34 laugh-out stories by Judy Blume, Richard Peck, Beverly Cleary, E. Nesbit, Natalie Babbitt, Mark Twain, Roald Dahl, and many more! Grade 3-6 This fresh, substantial prose anthology of modern humor will send middle-grade readers scurrying to the library shelves for more. The table of contents reads like a roll-call of popular authorsJudy Blume, Richard Peck, Robert Newton Peck, Betsy Byars, Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, Thomas Rockwell, and morewith a few surprises thrown in: Garrison Keillor, Delia Ephron, even a Bob & Ray script. Episodes vary greatly in length, from two to about two dozen pages; the print is comfortably large; and Zelinsky's rubbery, expressive drawings not only bind the collection together while setting individual moods for each story, but also, where appropriate, subtly evoke the original illustrations. Although most of the extracts stand alone, Pollack adds an introductory sentence or two where needed. Several tried-and-true entries (``The Elephant's Child,'' for instance, and Thurber's ``The Moth and the Star'') provide historical depth. Outstanding booktalk material, too. John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. With illustrations by Caldecott award winner Paul O. Zelinsky, the anthology will have readers rolling in the aisles over 34 laugh-out stories by Judy Blume, Richard Peck, Beverly Cleary, E. Nesbit, Natalie Babbitt, Mark Twain, Roald Dahl, and many more!