JOE JOE

``Bang''; ``bong''; ``hop''; ``stop'': each word appears twice, in large type and also creatively integrated into a sequence of illustrations depicting a small boy exploring his yard and neighborhood, making noise by dragging a stick along a picket fence and by banging on garbage pails, then considering a stop sign, splashing and squishing through puddles, and finally bringing his muddy footprints home—where Mom greets his dawning awareness of the tracks he's just made with rueful indulgence. Montezinos's bright, freely painted illustrations are nicely appropriate to Joe Joe's imaginative activities. A book that invites dramatic play, with individual or toddler group, to reinforce the simple words presented; since the children for whom it's suitable will be too young to set out down the sidewalk alone, as Joe Joe does, concerned adults can make his turnaround at the stop sign a discussion point with preschoolers. (Picture book. 2-5)