GABBY AND GRANDMA GO GREEN

When Gabby comes to visit her grandmother, they give their day a green focus, reusing, returning, refilling and recycling. With shopping bags they made from Grandma’s old dress, they carry plastic bottles to the supermarket for recycling and purchase a few groceries. Going on to a farmer's market, they buy local fruits and vegetables, cheese, bread and cookies and get an egg carton refilled. They make sandwiches to take to picnic in the park. Finally they visit the library to look for books with more "save the Earth projects." Naturally, they walk everywhere, in an urban neighborhood with a community garden, secondhand stores, signs extolling mass transit, a library advertising the author's books and a post office displaying 20-cent bird stamps. The cheerful illustrations are painted in gouache, with clean lines and simple shapes. Details cut from color photographs provide collage accents. Some illustrations are full bleed; others are in boxes, like the straightforward text. These are surrounded by sketches of relevant objects, providing plenty for a pre-reader to identify. There are further ideas for going green, and a cartoon mouse adds comments and suggestions. The book will conclude with instructions for sewing a cloth bag, green activities and a list of green websites, none seen by reviewer. (Picture book. 3-6)