Ruby to the Rescue

While attending school with Susie, Ruby, the teddy bear, discovers the plight of Anyone's Bears, much-abused toys that live in the playhouse, and comes up with a scheme to get her new friends out of the playhouse and into the arms of someone who will love them.

PreSchool-Grade 2-- Children in a preschool or kindergarten setting learn that they should be more careful with their toys and that ``one man's trash is another man's treasure'' in this mild tale about two torn-up teddy bears being rescued from the schoolroom. In a rather unlikely plot, Ruby, Susie's special teddy, accompanies her to school and is appalled at the treatment the stuffed animals receive as they are fought over and made dirty by the children and then subjected to soapy baths that leave them soggy for days. Ruby slips away with two of her fellow teddies, sadly known as Anyone's Bears, and stations them by the trashcans, where they are rescued by kindly garbage collectors and ensconced in the cab of their truck as mascots. The soft-toned, full-page colored-pencil illustrations are done in a flat, semirealistic style from varied perspectives. The children, of various races, are individualized, and the toys have expressive, appealing faces. The classroom setting is pleasant and familiar. --Patricia Pearl, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.