COLLIDING WITH CHRIS

Harder's first book is aimed at bicyclists, including those still soldiering on with training wheels. Chris can certainly ride his bike, but he doesn't know how to stop. Launched off the top of a steep hill, he's almost immediately out of control. ""Watch out!"" he cries as he barrels past his grandmother, careens through a garden shed, rattles into the woods, splashes through a stream, and more. A rollicking, loosely rhymed cumulative text steadily builds momentum and humor as Chris picks up a spider and sticky web, knocks an unsuspecting bear on to his back, and scares up a trout, among other incidents. Objects, animals, and people (including an entire marching band) loom large and then scatter, In many of the illustrations, the action is front and center in full-bleed spreads; in others, it is framed in cockeyed snapshots. A small dog that appears on the copyright page joyfully keeps pace with Chris to the satisfying conclusion in this small but funny episode.