Russell Rides Again

Hoban's endearing drawings accompany events in Hurwitz's sequel to Rip-Roaring Russell, the tad who lives in the New York apartment house where Busybody Nora and her brother, Super-Duper Teddy, are also at home. Russell is five now, ready to tackle kindergarten. The first day is better than nursery school for the graduate. Russell and his buddy Jeremy particularly enjoy tricking the teacher by trading identity tags, answering to the other's name when called on. But the jig is up when Jeremy gets sick and the school nurse is about to call Russell's mother to come for her fevered son. There are four episodes written in the author's unfailingly engaging style. The last one features starchy Russell's sixth birthday and the gala celebration crowned by his parents' gift, a spanking twowheeler. After a long struggle, he masters the bicycle's temperamental wobbles and is ready for more worlds to conquer. (47)