Bumber to Bumber

After a family loads presents and a birthday cake into their station wagon, they ``join the traffic on Highway 8.'' Lively spreads consisting of three lanes full of trucks, cars, bikes, motorcycles and buses provide nonstop commotion until: ``At last! We're here.'' Little ones will relish the many noises indicated as these vehicles ``vroom,'' ``rumble'' and ``chugga.''A laundry truck is trapped behind a convertible (``wooosh''), a cycling delivery lady (``tingaling'') is wedged between a van and a limousine, a cement mixer (``phut phut'') tails a tractor-towing gardening truck, and a flock of wayward sheep cause no end of problems. There is much to look at in this seemingly endless cavalcade; Owens's brief, breezy text points out a few highlights but leaves much of the delightful work to the reader. Repeated viewings of this jolly journey--where are mom and the kids now ?--yield countless sparkling details. Ages 3-6 . (Mar.)