A Mighty Fine Time Machine
PreSchool-Grade 1—Samantha, an anteater, is biking by with a wagon-load of books when she sees her friends Grant, an aardvark, and Antoine, an armadillo, standing by a huge packing crate. They are convinced that it can be turned into a time machine. They add various "hoozie-doozies," Grant sets the dials to another time and place, and Antoine makes blast-off sounds, but the machine stays put. After they make some adjustments, the rickety rocket rolls down a hill and topples over. Tired and bored, the boys settle down to read Sam's books and give up the project. Sam takes over and makes some of her own improvements, and-voilà!-she turns the box into the best do-it-yourself bookmobile imaginable. And, as proven by the other friends who come by to check out books, it's a success. Any child who has ever built a blanket fort or played inside a box should be able to relate to these anthropomorphic animals. The gouache and colored-pencil illustrations of the gadgets and gizmos attached to the crate add humot, and there is a lot of white space for the large, clear text. Though not essential, this is a fun selection.—Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CTCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.