ZUCCHINI OUT WEST

The sequel to Zucchini (1984) finds the ferret, his owner, Billy, and Billy's father and sister driving to Wyoming, where they plan to visit the captive breeding program for the endangered black-footed ferret. But ten-year-old Billy, a worrier in the best of times, has a serious concern: Zucchini looks like a black-footed ferret, and if he is identified as one, Billy won't be allowed to keep him. This gentle book is marred only by the presence of Billy's annoying five-year-old sister, Emma, whose comments are sometimes precocious and make her sound old, but she can't count, doesn't read, and behaves likes a three- year-old. Otherwise the story is a delight, especially the careful line Dana walks—as she did in the first book—in anthropomorphizing Zucchini, whose behavior is animal, but whose ``thoughts'' are open to readers. The result is an even greater, and rather touching, enhancement of the child-pet bond. Pleasant black-and-white illustrations add to this charming book, which has a great deal of information for animal-loving and environmentally aware children. (Fiction. 8-10)