WHEELS AROUND

Paint-box bright photographs of wheeled transportation cover the gamut from skateboards and wheelchairs to fire trucks and backhoes. There is a fine mixture of urban and rural vehicles, and the link between skateboards and dump trucks is one that will be new to many in the book's intended audience. Through judicious use of cropping and long shots, Rotner (Faces, 1994, etc.) varies what could have been a monotonous group of side views, and she uses the advertising on vehicles to adroit effect (she even manages to include a dinosaur). The pages are crammed full; an excellent use of borders and type boxes keep the ideas coherent and the book fun to pore over. A sparkling contribution to a popular subject. (Picture book. 3-7)