PreS Gr. 2. For Drum it looks like summer's a bummer, especially with his baby brother getting all the attention. But then he makes new friends: Dorene moves in to the house down the street; Louis finds a loving foster home nearby (My new mama really looks at me, / not at all like the other two); and Rae comes to stay with Dorene, just until Mama's a little bit stronger. Lively, occasionally rhyming poems celebrate the friendship of kids from different families, as Gilchrist's line-and-watercolor artwork shows the four young African Americans, boisterous and quiet in their neighborhood of homes on a wooded street, as they play, fuss, argue, parade, tell tall tales, act willy-nilly silly, support each other, and laugh a lot. Fun for reading aloud.

Free-verse poems in alternating and combined voices tell the gentle story of four friends who create a pretend cardboard town called Goodsummer. Idealistic and nostalgic, and illustrated with warm watercolors, this tale has a throwback feel to it, as the children play and invent and take care of one another. Written like a script, the book is perfect for classroom readers' theater.

Four new friends turn a dull summer around with creative projects and energetic play. Greenfield's form gets attention right away; the narrative unfolds via 34 free-verse poems in six parts, beginning with "One. Drummond." Drum introduces himself and describes his boredom, perking up when a new family moves in down the street. Drum and the new kid, Doreen, play a series of games. Their bright verses (and many that follow) could also be viewed as short scenes, suitable for classroom use. Louis comes next, then Rae. Each voice has its own color—red, green, blue and purple—as they talk to each other and plan. The quartet is crackling with ideas, like a makeshift town made out of cardboard and paint in Drum's back yard. They act out various scenarios in their town's many establishments. Gilchrist's watercolor illustrations work in harmony with the text, in a variety of configurations vis-a-vis the verse. All that can end this summer idyll is the start of a new school year. A lively tribute to children's imagination as well as an inviting introduction to free verse. (Picture book. 5-9)

Gr 2-4-Free-verse poems tell the story of a group of children who find each other during one otherwise lonely summer. Seven-year-old Drummer is anticipating a "Bummer Summer": "Summer's a bummer,/nobody to chase,/nobody to catch the ball/I throw./Hurry up, September!/Get here, fall!/so I can be with/all my friends again." Before long, though, Dorene moves in down the street. Then Louis arrives. The last of the group is Rae, who's sent to stay with Dorene and her family because of her mother's illness. The African-American friends all bond, play, and build and paint an elaborate cardboard town they call Goodsummer. The simple watercolors work well at setting scenes of tidy streets lined with homes and lots of backyards and parks. Gilchrist's talent shows in her use of color, splashed with light, but some of her figures look a bit stiff. The children's voices are printed in different colors, making this title a natural choice for choral reading. For a younger audience than most novels-in-verse, this accessible and well-written book has a nostalgic tone-you don't see a television or computer game anywhere, and the children's play is centered on activities such as dress-up, slides and swings, and playing school.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.