THE UMBRELLA DAY

Still another book that, lacking a real story, uses a child's imaginative play as spring-board for an illustrator. Sent out into an idyllic hilltop landscape with an umbrella that she is reluctant to take, Missy is glad to open it when it rains. She then imagines the umbrella as a giant toadstool (under which she and her pets hold a tea party); a circus tent; and a boat that takes her out to sea and into a whirlpool that becomes a tunnel leading toward home. In her first picture book, Mathis illustrates these adventures in vibrant, glowing color; the sea and sky are especially nice. If children need models for imaginative play, this is acceptable.