LUCY'S WINTER TALE

In an imaginative tale echoing old-fashioned stories of running off with gypsies, Lucy—a child of an earlier time who's been taught to do as she's told—gets onto her father's horse with a mysterious stranger and rides into the night. Ivan, a juggler, has quarreled with his sweetheart Martina; searching for her, he performs in small country towns, while Lucy sings. When Martina appears, she greets Ivan lovingly but insists that Lucy go home: ``It's true I wanted a child, but I never meant you should steal one!'' Lucy returns willingly to her worried family; still, she'll never forget her magical excursion. Ehrlich's poetic narrative puts her story in the special world of dream or allegory, though it's pleasantly grounded in the rural New England depicted in Howell's gentle, beautifully designed paintings; Ivan, in his embroidered white costume, looks as innocent as Lucy herself. Intriguing. (Young reader/Picture book. 5-9)