MAMA ZOOMS

In soft color pencil and pastel art that gleams with cheerful good health, an upbeat portrayal of the pleasures of having a mother in a wheelchair. The simple text, narrated by the preschooler in Mama's lap, tells what the child is pretending as Mama zooms along (``she's my racehorse...she's my ship at sea'') while, in the pictures, he's appropriately dressed for his role as an aviator, cowboy, etc. Mama, meanwhile, is shown realistically as a smiling, jeans-clad young woman enjoying imaginative play with her child. There's little added information, though ``Mama has very strong arms from all our zooming'' and Daddy does appear to push her ``up only the very steepest hills''; the well-made point is Mama's vitality and independence and the vibrant relationship. (Picture book. 2-6)