My Steps

PreS-Gr 1--A gentle story about a child's imaginative play. The front steps of a city building make a wonderful year-round playground for an African-American girl and her friends. The steps are good for hopping up and down, watching people and traffic pass by, coloring with friends, playing school, or pretending to be in a cave with a blanket draped over the stoop. Best of all, setting foot on the front steps after you've been away means you're home again. Bright cut-paper collages with watercolors show cars (that look like miniatures) and animals somewhat distorted in relation to people, but have a fresh, childlike quality. An additional slice-of-urban-life picture book.--Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY