WHEN GRANDMA ALMOST FELL OFF THE MOUNTAIN AND OTHER STORIES

Rolling out the cookies, Grandma tells the two little girls she doesn't know any stories, but ``I'll tell you about the time my sister and I went to Florida by car with our parents.'' So begins a rambling, eventful account of a not-so-extraordinary vacation, propelled by the girls' queries and by artfully incorporated particulars of the 30's (```What strap?' Zelda asked. `Cars came with straps in those days. No one knew why. My grandmother used hers to hoist herself...'''), and, best of all, by the comfortably unassuming narrator, whose colorful words, brisk descriptions, and unerring choices of subjects keep her audience spellbound. The narrative device adds drama and a rich multigenerational flavor to a warmhearted picture of a lively family on a memorable trip, capped by the eponymous moment when ``All four tires lost their grip, and two of them slipped a tiny bit over the edge of the mountain.'' The color pencil and watercolor art, nicely interspersed with the long text, burgeons with good humor and period details; her spirited characterizations are in perfect accord with the zestful text. Swell for reading alone or, better yet, aloud. (Young reader/Picture book. 4-8)