Poor Plug Honeycutt has a very bad memory. When his mother sends him to buy soap, he repeats to himself, ''Soap! Soap! Don't forget the soap!'' On his first encounter, he substitutes an old woman's exclamation for his own, and trades remarks, with ever more disastrous results, all the way to town, until someone finally mentions soap again. The illustrations have an appropriately rustic quality, just exactly right for the homely subject.

Plug Honeycut has such a poor memory some say he'd forget his own name,'' so when Mama sends him to the store he chants her instructions, over and over, until a bullfrog distracts him. An encounter with an old lady who's just slipped on a stoneas slick as soap'' recalls the words; unfortunately, she takes exception to his happy recovery and dunks him, hollering, What a mess I've become, but now you're one, too!'' So it goes: Plug picks up the new line, which proves peculiarly insulting to the next person he meets, who inadvertently provides him with another, and so on until a lady shrieks,I ought to wash your mouth out with soap!'' just as he nears the store. Birdseye's brisk down-home retelling is colorful and comical; Glass's affectionately caricatured mountain folk cavort in sunny colored pencils and watercolor. A natural for reading aloud. (Folklore/Picture book. 5-10)"

K-Gr 2-This droll, cumulative story tells of an ever-so-forgetful boy, Plug, whose loving mother sends him to the store for soap. Concentrating on his mission as he walks along, Plug calls out the refrain of the title, causing an elderly woman to fall into the creek. She dunks him and leaves him with a new line that takes its place in his memory instead of the old one: "`What a mess I've become, but now you're one, too!'" This sentence offends the next person he meets and the chain of mishaps continues until a bedraggled but triumphant Plug returns home with the soap. This version differs from Richard Chase's tale of the same title in Grandfather Tales (Houghton, 1973) in its emphasis on motherly love and in its softened, less punitive approach. Students may recognize a similar story in Pat Hutchins's Don't Forget the Bacon (Greenwillow, 1976). Glass's bright, action-filled illustrations are reminiscent of Stephen Gammell's work in Cynthia Rylant's The Relatives Came (Bradbury, 1985). Birdseye's vivid language, use of repetition, and tone invite oral readings. A book that will be useful for story hours and units on Appalachian tales.-Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie