GRANDMA WENT TO MARKET

Subtitled ``A Round-the-World Counting Rhyme,'' Blackstone's first book opens with the purchase of a flying Turkish carpet that helps transform Grandma into an international shopper. With this unique form of transportation, Grandma buzzes off on a crisscross flight pattern (shown on the endpapers) to collect mementos from many lands. She purchases two cats in Thailand, three masks in Mexico, and four paper lanterns in China. When Grandma concludes her trip by buying ten ribbons for the mane of a pony, it takes a foldout page to exhibit all the things she's acquired. Although this is the realm of fairy tales, some stereotypes distract, e.g., the Swiss are clad in liederhosen and nesting matrioshka dolls represent Russia. Otherwise, the illustrations, bright with pink, yellow, and lavender, are clear enough to distinguish a kite from a boomerang, cluttered enough to make counting the objects into a guessing game. If the verse lacks poetic acrobatics, it is aerodynamic enough to keep the book, and Grandma's escapades, in flight. (Picture book. 2-6)