THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Seven-year-old Allie goes on a special outing, by train, with her grandfather to see The Nutcracker—her first trip to the theater. It's also a poignant commemoration: Grandpa took Allie's mother, who died when Allie was three, to a Christmas Eve performance of the ballet the year she was seven. Responding to Allie's anxious sympathy, Grandpa explains that he's not sad: "A loving memory is happy" (not, surely, the whole truth, but adequate in context). Peck's freely painted oils—her rough, telling strokes leave the canvas exposed, effectively portraying a California setting some time ago; her dark palette (somber but appropriate) and impressionistic portrayals (especially of dancers) refer to Degas and reveal a new self-confidence in this talented illustrator. An evocative vignette. (Picture book. 5-8)