Hazel's Amazing Mother

Plot

Product DescriptionWhen Hazel and her beloved doll Eleanor are set upon by bullies, Hazel's mother comes to the rescue in a surprising wayFrom Publishers WeeklyBuilding fantasy on the solid foundation of a mother's championship, Wells acquaints her readers with more of the endearing anthropomorphs that have made her picture books lasting favorites. Hazel is a small raccoon. Taking her doll Eleanor in a stroller, she buys picnic snacks to share with Mom and Eleanor at lunchtime. The shopper is among familiar, friendly people until she loses her way on a hill where three young toughs surround her. (The meanest is Doris, a chipmunk!) They tear poor Eleanor apart and throw her stroller into a pond. Although Hazel is far from home, she cries, "Mother, I need you," and mother is there. Carried by magic to the top of a tree, the mother thunders orders at the ruffians and they obey instantlysewing the doll together again, cleaning the carriageand then get while the getting's good. Full-color pictures with delightful embellishments stamp the book unmistakably a Wells creation.Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.From School Library JournalPreSchool-Grade 2 The power of maternal love fuels this fantasy. Hazel, a whimsical badger who wears a girl's wide-brimmed hat, blouse and skirt, strolls her doll around town. On the way home, she becomes lost. She is set upon by buck-toothed beaver Doris and her two friends, who unstuff her doll and throw her carriage into the lake. Just in time, a gust of wind blows mother into the tree under which Hazel stands (attributed to the power of love), and the bullies are ordered to repair the doll and retrieve her carriage. Large-format black-ink drawings with comic detail are solidly filled in with cheerful bright watercolors. Hazel's almost illuminant yellow blouse focuses attention on her on each page. A well-crafted fantasy with quality illustrations that relates to many story time themes, this deserves first purchase consideration. When reading the book aloud, though, please warn children that they, unlike Hazel, should not be taking shelter under a tree during a lightning storm. Jean Gaffney, Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, OhioCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.