GOAT'S TRAIL

In a colorful journey, a goat leaves his mountain home to investigate the noises he hears in the town below (ding, dong, vroom vroom, ump-pa-pa, etc.), freeing a series of other animals as he goes. The successive emancipations make a good vehicle for introducing the animals and what they say to the small child; once in town, there are delicious bits of mayhem with traffic, a band, and a classroom full of children before the owners reclaim the animals and all go home. Wildsmith has set this romp in an old wailed southern European city with arches, cobblestones, and fine architectural detail. His ebullient style is as effective as ever; a few peekaboo pages add a nice touch, as do such details as the cats who turn up on most pages (recognizable as Blake's ""Tyger"" in an earlier book). The youngest will enjoy pointing out familiar creatures and objects here, and be enriched by the artistry of their surroundings.