BRINGING THE FARMHOUSE HOME

Adult siblings dividing up their parents' possessions are faced with an experience that's in some ways like preschoolers' first bouts with sharing. Here, after Grandma's death, five brothers and sisters gather at the old farmhouse, soon to be sold, bringing their husbands, wives, and young children. This warmhearted family has a novel system: making five piles of equal value, they draw lots and then trade for cherished treasures. Not everyone gets what he or she wants most, but they all know it's fair; even the kids express their wishes, and after the narrator's mother trades the platter she dearly loves for the patchwork quilt her daughter treasures for its associations with Grandma, her sister says, ``You can borrow the platter, Susie, any time you want to,'' and gives her a kiss. No greed here, just loving memories, brought sweetly to life (in what might be the 50's) in Rowland's lively, perceptive watercolors. Like this family, who share a delicious potluck meal before they start trading, nice through and through. (Picture book. 4-8)