On the Move

For young readers on the go, new transportation titles are ready to roll. Amazing Machines by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker collects four volumes that were previously published separately as Dazzling Diggers, Roaring Rockets, Flashing Fire Engines and Terrific Trains. Rhyming text presents a variety of animals operating the various vehicles. "Rockets explore. Through space they roam./ But when they're done, they head back home." The art is playful and the tone cheery. (Houghton/Kingfisher, $10.95 paper 96p ages 2-5 ISBN 0-7534-5642-7; June)

The Pull & Play Books series presents One Toy Train by Jane Gerver, illus. by Caroline Jayne Church. Readers pull a handle to unfold connected board book page. Bright cartoonish illustrations and a rhyming text count from one to 10 as the train collects passengers and freight—"1 toy train chugs down the tracks/ carrying 2 striped candy sacks"—then, on the reverse side, count down as the train gets home. (Reader's Digest, $6.99 10p ages 2-4 ISBN 0-7944-0048-5; July)

A variety of animals also travels the rails in the oversize board book Red Train by Will Grace, illus. by Ed Vere. Beginning with "Choo choo one" (shown as a red engine driven by a rabbit), a simple text and stylized illustrations depict trains of different colors with increasing numbers of cars and animals; a grand finale features a car from each coming together in a rainbow train 10 cars long. (Scholastic/Cartwheel, $5.99 16p ages 1-4 ISBN 0-439-48836-2; Aug.)

Readers can take two very different trips with a pair of titles by Steve Augarde, both with plenty of flaps, tabs and so forth. We're Going on an Airplane! takes readers through the airport and onto a jet; they can rotate the luggage carrousel, recline a seatback, turn the pilot's wheel, etc.The New YellowBulldozer lets readers lift the backhoe and the front bucket, check the fluid levels under the hood and more. Soft-edged illustrations feature plenty of details for the mechanically minded. (Handprint/Ragged Bears, $9.95 each 10p ages 2-4 ISBN 1-929927-51-7; -50-9; June)

A Warm Welcome Back

Favorite fiction returns in volumes designed to attract new readers. Master storyteller Peter Dickinson's tale of The Kin, set in Africa 200,000 years ago, reexamines themes he explored in A Bone from a Dry Sea. One impressive volume gathers the four tales originally published separately in the U.S. (Suth's Story; Noli's Story; Ko's Story; and Mana's Story). The quartet relates the epic adventures of a small band of children who struggle to survive after their families have been killed. Dickinson intersperses within their narrative a smattering of "Oldtales," the pourquoi myths of their tribe, the Kin. PW said in a starred review of Noli's Story, "The real adventure here is the exhilarating mix of ideas the novel so nimbly sets forth." (Putnam, $24.99 640p ages 10-up ISBN 0-399-24022-5; Penguin Putnam/Firebird, $7.99 paper ISBN 0-14-250120-4; June)

In the words of Rudine Sims Bishop, from her foreword, Lorenz Graham "helped pave the way for the development of contemporary African American literature for children and young adults" with his Town novels—South Town; North Town; Whose Town?; and Return to South Town. The four books span 15 years in the life of their protagonist, David Williams, whom readers first meet as a 15-year-old in the rural south of the 1950s. The first title chronicles a dangerous summer for David, when an act of heroism backfires under the constant pressure caused by the bigotry and Jim Crow laws that control his daily life. In North Town, although David's family has moved to a Northern city where racial divisions are less obvious, bigotry makes David's dream of becoming a doctor seem even more remote. Racial violence becomes more pronounced in Whose Town?, as the civil rights movement gathers momentum. Return to South Town features an adult David and his effort to become the first practicing black doctor in his hometown. (Boyds Mills; $16.95 ages 12-up ISBN 1-59078-161-9; -162-7; -163-5; -164-3; Sept.)

In another vein entirely, escapism 1940s-style is the allure of Trixie Belden #1: The Secret of the Mansion and Trixie Belden #2: The Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell, illus. by Mary Stevens. In the first, Trixie lives on Crabapple Farm and looks forward to a long dull summer—until millionaire Honey Wheeler moves into the Manor House up the road; the two join forces to solve the titular mysteries and save the day. The original b&w line art accentuates the period feel in this paper-over-board novel. (Random, $7.99 each ages 8-12 ISBN 0-375-82412-X; -82411-1; June)

A much spookier fantasy can be found in Mary Chase's The Wicked Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House, illus. by Peter Sís, first published in 1968 under the title The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden. Maureen Swanson, known in her neighborhood as Old Stinky, finds herself unnaturally attracted to the boarded-up, crumbling Messerman mansion. When she sneaks inside, Maureen falls into the clutches of seven truly demonic sisters who can twist time. Can an old leprechaun help Maureen find her way home? (Knopf, $15.95 128p ages 7-10 ISBN 0-375-82572-X; Aug.)