THE VERY WINDY DAY

Four people have errands along North, South, East, and West Streets. Johnny is carrying his baby sister home, wrapped in a blanket; Mrs. Green is wearing a large hat; Susan has a new kitten in a box; and Mr. Black's newspaper is around his lunch. The wind whisks each object away, to be used by each of the other people before finally returning to its original owner (e.g., the cat rides in the hat, then is wrapped in the blanket, etc.). It's sort of an amusing idea, if a little overextended by the many possible combinations. In a promising debut, Summers whirls her amusingly caricatured people along the windy streets in lively cartoon style, providing comical details like the changing expressions of the rabbits depicted on the baby's blanket. Worth a try. (Picture book. 3-8)