SPACES

It could have been a good idea. Parnell, perhaps more creatively than any other illustrator, uses dynamic white space; his spare pen lines and frugal swatches of color only suggest scenes that must be completed in the reader's imagination. But this time—after a provocative opening (``Some people think spaces are empty places. Places between more important things, things that...you can see'') illustrated with a row of cleverly titled books (like ``Niches, by Neeche'')—he retreats to the obvious, suggesting that his settings can be filled in with the fantastical (tiny elephants in a stone wall) or the mundane (kittens under a wood stove). At his best, Parnell collaborates with the reader to create a drama in a setting that has an integrity built from page to page; here—disappointingly—he just suggests that readers add whatever occurs to them. (Picture book. 4-8)