RATHMAN, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons [1995]. 4to, 40pp. Full-color pictorial boards. Full-color pictorial endpapers; full-color illustrations throughout. A fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (not price-clipped, no medal affixed). With a bookplate signed by Caldecott Medalist Peggy Rathman laid in.

First Edition. 1996 Caldecott Medal winner. Officer Buckle is a roly-poly bloke, dedicated to teaching schoolchildren important safety tips, such as never put anything in your ear and never stand on a swivel chair. The problem is, Officer Buckle's school assemblies are dull, dull, dull, and the children of Napville just sleep, sleep, sleep. That is, until Gloria, the police dog, is invited along! Stealthily pantomiming each safety tip behind Officer Buckle's back, Gloria wins the children's hearts. Meanwhile Officer Buckle assumes the cheers and laughter are all for him. As the master comedian Jerry Lewis once explained, every slapstick artist needs a straight man!