PEOPLE, PEOPLE, EVERYWHERE!

Frenetic verse sums up a city's activity: ``People racing round the town,/Going up!/Going down!''—running for the bus, dashing to walk the dog, crowding around vendors, building ever- taller buildings, working, parading, even tangling clotheslines that run between buildings. In an ironic conclusion, one family moves to the country (``No more traffic, no more noise,/Lots of space...'') only to be followed—it's ``A perfect place to build a town.'' The book ends with a modicum of hope—citizens of the new town are doing environmentally useful things like planting trees, shopping by bike, and recycling. In Westcott's cheerful full-bleed art, the city is attractive, though crowded and fast- paced, while the lush green countryside's rapid development is deftly summed up in a few spreads. Point made, gently but effectively. (Picture book. 3-8)