NIGHT BECOMES DAY

Day becomes night, actually, in this strange game of word association by McGuire (The Orange Book, 1992). Unlike the more conventional process of sunset, darkening skies, stars appearing, and the like, McGuire follows the day as it becomes ``bright'' then ``sun,'' ``shine,'' ``sparkle,'' ``stream,'' and so on—although ``so on'' implies no obvious progression. The book follows an interior logic that only occasionally conforms to our more mundane notions of reason. For example, ``Stream becomes river/And river becomes ocean'' doesn't seem so outlandish, but how exactly does one understand ``City becomes building/And building becomes cloud''? Still, this is an appealing book. McGuire's illustrations are lively and diverting. Unusual and amusing, but don't look too deeply. (Fiction/Picture book. 3-8)