WHEN MARCUS MOORE MOVED IN

"At 44 MacDougal Street when Marcus Moore moved in, 'I'm here!' said Marcus Moore, but there was no one there." And so it goes for the lonely new boy in the neighborhood, until "like a sunny sidewalk dancer, a girl went skipping by." Sporting wiry, airborne braids à la Pippi Longstocking, the girl parades back and forth, then disappears when it starts to rain ("And there was only grim and gray, and there was only him"). When the girl finally introduces herself ("And at once he felt all rosy. Like that, his street had changed"), the two play the rest of the day away. Bond's (Just Like a Baby) pliant prose flows zestily and also lyrically ("And in the early evening, when the day was blue and dusty,/ with smells of dinners cooking, with lightly layered dark"). Her piquant illustrations capture the feelings of both children, Marcus longingly watching the girl as she skips, bicycles, "stomp[s] and tromp[s] and swagger[s]" past him, checking occasionally to ensure she's grabbed his attention. The cheerful palette of acrylics and askew perspectives help conjure a warm urban setting. As the children's friendship solidifies, the MacDougal Street background grows more sociable, too. More and more people travel its sidewalks, and the formerly blank windows of the houses reveal cozy domestic scenes within. Kids facing a move will be heartened—and rooted kids may feel a twinge or two of wanderlust. Ages 3-6. (June)