A YEAR IN THE CITY

A light, affectionate counterpart to the many essays on the changing seasons' natural signals, this book of months focuses on signs more evident in an urban environment: merchants shoveling sidewalks as cars slide past on slick January streets; sparrows lining their nests with candy wrappers in April; August vacationers driving off in droves as clots of camera-toting tourists appear. Softened lines and warm, muted colors impart an air both intimate and celebratory to Howard's generic (but plainly inspired by New York) cityscapes. It's a sunny view of city life: July's street fair is littered—but it's clean litter—and there are plenty of happy faces and multiracial groups of playing children to be seen (though glimpses of street people add a dose of reality). Henderson's unforced rhythms and occasional rhymes give her descriptions an inviting lilt: ``The year's turning./See the people dance/and kiss and sing?/Hear the bells ring/and the cars honk?/Here's January again./The years keep turning.'' (Picture book. 6-8)