RACHEL PARKER, KINDERGARTEN SHOW-OFF

The popular author depicts two bright little girls weathering their competitiveness to become fast friends. From their first encounter, narrator Olivia and new neighbor Rachel trade boasts about their reading skills and everything else. Olivia's envy of real things (Rachel has ``a grandfather who gives out candy'') and her skepticism about other claims (Rachel can't like her sister's diaper pail) lead to a full-scale falling out. But when a clever teacher asks them to read to the class together, they find they can help each other with the hard words. The truce is very easily made—but the short, spritely sentences and snappy dialogue are right on target for early readers or listeners, while Poydar's realistic, freely rendered watercolors are bright and expressive. (Picture book. 4-7)