GRANDPA'S CORNER STORE

The author/illustrator of City Green (1994) and Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen (1991) again celebrates community spirit, this time with a tale of a takecharge child who refuses to let her grandpa's corner grocery quietly disappear when a big supermarket opens down the street. Having already seen the neighborhood hardware store closed by competition, Lucy indignantly rejects the idea that her grandpa would likewise knuckle under; so she is understandably dismayed when a “For Sale” sign goes up. “ ‘The new supermarket will have everything from soup to nuts,’ ” Grandpa explains sadly. “ ‘But it won't have you,’ ” she rejoins—then marches off to organize the willing regulars, from her own classmates to the firefighters across the street, into a fix-it brigade. From plump resident tabby cat to worn checkerboard floor tiles, Grandpa's store positively exudes coziness, and in the final scenes DiSalvo-Ryan's industrious, multigenerational crowd is lit up as much by Grandpa's loving smile as by his bright red smock. (Picture book. 7-9)