YOU ARE HERE

Crews (Snowball, 1997, etc.) starts with a rainy day and two girls, Joy and Mariah are stuck inside and so dream up a game_they will go on a trip. Although it's imaginary, it's real enough to them, and to readers, due to Crews's terrifically appealing full-color photographs and some computer trickery. The objects on a mantel_a toy plane, a kaleidoscope, an art print, a toy penguin, a mask_become part of the trip; the girls are shown in the tiny plane, flying in front of the art print. A giant (the mask) tells them that they must bring him a trinket. They consult books from the bookshelf and try unsuccessfully to maneuver the family cat. They finally give up and sit on him. The expressions elicited are perfect; the girls are in charge of their world, confident and part of a great game. When their mother comes home, they go outside to the now-sunny tree-lined street. This is a slice of real life, that makes a child's fanciful interludes part of every day. (Picture book. 5-7)