Treehorn's Treasure

An equally inspired sequal to The Shrinking of Treehorn. There, the small boy's preoccupied parents were oblivious to the fact that he was growing smaller. Here, his mother is so wrapped up in spending money and his father in saving it that neither registers Treehorn's repeated announcements that the leaves on the backyard maple tree are turning to dollar bills. Treehorn, who has already adapted to the prevailing climate by taking refuge in comic books, considerably enlarges his collection with the first ripe $26.00 he harvests from the tree. But just when "probably thousands" of leaves have turned, Treehorn's father decides that the original dollar bill he gave Treehorn to save - and which Treehorn then stashed in the tree, enclosed in an envelope addressed to the Instant Magic Company - should be placed in a bank to draw interest. Whereupon, of course, George Washington's many faces rapidly fade away. Once again, poor Treehorn's lonely plight is pictured in scenes at once poignant an hilarious - as when he navigates, flashlight in hand, through an elegant dark restaurant where his mother never notices that he hasn't had a chance to eat or order. And once more Treehorn comes through on his own, handling both the indifferent adults and the villains of his horror-comic fantasies with similar aplomb. (Kirkus Reviews)