JENNY AND THE GRAND OLD GREAT-AUNTS

From the author of several fine novels for young people (Sydney, Herself, 1989), a book for younger readers, with the familiar theme of a child making friends with an adult. Jenny is left for an afternoon with her father's elderly aunts, whom she hardly knows. At first, all three are stiff and tongue-tied; then, while Aunt Clare naps in her chair, Aunt Abby and Jenny tiptoe to the attic, where they explore a trunk full of wonderful toys and dance to the music of an old Victrola. When her parents return, Jenny and Dad (who used to enjoy staying with the aunts when he was a boy) share a secret: still stuck in Aunt Abby's hair are bits of the pink feather boa she twirled as they danced. Roman's attractive, soft color pencil illustrations nicely capture Jenny's perception of the ornate, dauntingly tidy Victorian house and the growing warmth between the child and the old ladies. The easily read story is skillfully written, with evocative details (the attic smells ``like the insides of pockets''). An appealing bridge to early chapter books. (Fiction/Young reader. 6-9)