A charming and comforting picture book vibrantly captures the anxiety and curiosity that children feel when they arrive in their new home, as well as the wonder they experience as they explore their new surroundings and make their first friend. Grade 1-3-Charming illustrations that perfectly capture the life and spirit of a big city (inspired by the author's Brooklyn neighborhood) are paired with an awkward text in this story about a boy moving to a new house. The first rhythmic line-"At 44 MacDougal Street when Marcus Moore moved in-" implies a rhyming story with a finger-snapping beat, but the next line, "`I'm here!' said Marcus Moore, but there was no one there" fails to live up to the promise. Despite this flaw, many children will identify with the loneliness of moving to a new place and the joy of making a new friend (who, in this case, happens to be a girl). The softly colored acrylic illustrations are intriguing and detailed enough for children to follow the story on their own, with or without the text. Sue Morgan, Tom Kitayama Elementary School, Union City, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. PreS-Gr. 2. Exuberant illustrations in Bond's characteristic style outshine text in this story about a boy moving into a new home in a city neighborhood. Energetic curves and rich colors express Marcus Moore's excitement about the move, which increases when a girl named Kate skips by with a jump rope. The palette darkens after she disappears, and it starts to rain but brightens again after the two begin playing together on the sidewalk. The whimsical spirit so obvious in the pictures isn't as successful in the text, which strains to be poetic and contains too many repetitive phrases, exclamation marks, and sounds ("ka-LOMP!"). Nevertheless, the idea of moving as an adventure and the pleasure in a new friendship come across with feeling as does an appreciation of the possibilities for play in an urban setting. Kathleen Odean Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Rebecca Bond has moved many times in her life-from her hometown in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to Rhode Island to Paris, France, and finally to New York.