THE MOST AMAZING NIGHT BOOK

A cross between a book and a toy: Readers are invited to lift flaps, pull tabs, and turn wheels and watch windows open and close, trains and airplanes move, movies run, and Ferris wheels spin. The book contains six night scenesin the city, at the airport, in the country, by a haunted house, by the seasidewith comic-book style dialogue balloons scattered across the cluttered landscapes (``Turn that TV down!'' out of a city window; ``Moo, moo,'' out of a barn). The opportunity to make pictures move will no doubt be appreciated by the target audience, but results in two major shortcomings. First, because the illustrations have no unifying theme (other than the night settings), the tricks and surprises quickly go flat. Second, and an old problem at that, for institutional use: The book is not sturdy, and won't hold up to repeat viewings. (Picture book. 3-8)