CONNIE CAME TO PLAY
by Jill Paton Walsh & illustrated by Stephen Lambert
Connie came to play and Robert doesn't want to share his toys. ``This is my train!'' he tells her. ``All right,'' says Connie. ``You play with that one. I'll play with this one.'' A spread follows of Connie driving a big locomotive. The same scene is played out with all of Robert's other toys; Connie continues to imagine herself using the real thing and some kind of balance is struck. In the end, Connie wins Robert over when she offers to share her fantasies, by telling him stories. The scumbled pictures have an unimposing expressiveness, alternating between spreads of Robert and Connie against a white background and big, colorful landscapes against which Connie's imaginative exercises unfold. From the author of Pepi and the Secret (p. 560), it's grand to see such a typical preschool scenario handled without preachiness. (Picture book. 2-6)