JONATHAN Shipton's Busy! Busy! Busy!, illustrated by Michael Foreman (Picture Lions, $51), is a touching picture book for pre-school children. The pressures of managing a family become too much for a long-suffering mother. But her son comes to the rescue. When he finds her in tears, with her hands in the kitchen sink, he gives her a kiss, snips away her ''chains'' and drags her into the garden to marvel at a flock of swans flying overhead. This affectionate story is accompanied by soft watercolours by Mr Foreman, one of the leading illustrators of children's books. Don't Do That! by Tony Ross (Red Fox, $52), is a less attractive, but funnier morality tale. Nellie suffers ridiculous consequences after getting her finger stuck in her nose when doing the unmentionable. Efforts to prize the finger out include tying herto a rocket. There are even more laughs in Charley Barley, The Best Bad Boy in Town, by Sally-Ann Lever, illustrated by Andy Ellis. Charley gets up to supreme mischief during a family shopping trip. His tricks are matched by Elmer the elephant in David McKee's Elmer Again (Red Fox, $52). The psychedelic elephant hides herself by painting the rest of the herd in similar hues. Children will enjoy spotting the real Elmer in the nicely-illustrated work. There is a collection of loveable stories for young readers in Tales of Oliver Pig by Jean Van Leeuwen and Arnold Lobel (Red Fox, $34). The stories are set in the typical, every day life of the Pig household, where Oliver and sister Amanda help and hinder Mother with the baking; get in bad moods; and enjoy a visit from grandmother. The stories, also a pleasure to read aloud, are in large print.
