PLAY ALL DAY
by Julie Paschkis & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Play All Day ($15.95; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-316-69043-0): A bedtime book alternates vignettes of a boy at play with double- page, full-bleed spreads of his far more imaginative version of events. First he is shown in a world all his own; he begins playing outside when the wind blows his hat to a tree branch. Suddenly he is on a red mare, charging to the tree, which holds a number of hats: “Did a wind wizard toss it on a branch that was bare?” The conceit isn’t entirely original but Paschkis (So Happy/So Sad, 1995) provides charming scenes of domesticity that often outpace the fantasy spreads. (Picture book. 2-5)