Spooky Book

In this Hitchcockian thriller-within-a-thriller, ""Andrew shook as he opened the cover of a spooky book."" The sepia pages show a girl opening the same tome. Odd coincidences continue. If lightning startles the girl, a flash surprises Andrew. Stranger still, they both scan the mirror image of this very volume. McElligott (The Truth About Cousin Ernie's Head) strategically uses color to signal scene changes, and his perspectives are agreeably vertiginous. Patschke (Don't Look at It! Don't Touch It!) unforgivably rhymes ""spooky"" with ""droopy"" and ""a bat flying kooky,"" but otherwise his meta-book stimulates the mind. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)