LEAVING HOME WITH A PICKLE JAR

The author of Loop the Loop (1992, ALA Notable) tells another story remarkable for its sensitivity and deft interweaving of themes. Though it's hard to say goodbye, Ernest's mama is driving her two children from the East to Minnesota, where ``there's a job waiting,'' and family. ``Most precious belongings only,'' she says, and holds her tongue when Ernest takes pet grasshopper Albert. During the long trip, Ernest begins to see the confining car—he and sister Ella have 50 fights by Indianapolis—as resembling Albert's jar; even though Albert is a memento of home, he lets him go at Aunt Leona's and is rewarded with Mama's warm approval: ``Not every boy could have done that on his own.'' Dugan carefully builds Ernest's understanding with beautifully integrated details. But, here, she's less lucky with her illustrator: Baker's watercolors are expressive, but their clumsy, static forms don't serve the story well, and she hasn't solved the problem of making the cooped-up journey visually interesting. Still, unusually perceptive, well-told, and likable. (Picture book. 4-8)