A Visit to Grandma's

Ever since Grandma moved to a condo in Florida, Tina has missed her--and her pumpkin pies, turkey and stuffing. When Tina and her parents arrive for a Thanksgiving visit, it's a liberated Grandma who greets them--in a snazzy red roadster. Having traded in her calico apron for slinky sportswear and cat's-eye sunglasses, Grandma is living in a world of aerobics classes, health shakes, late-night gabfests--and store-bought pies, to Dad's dismay. When Thanksgiving dinner turns out to be with Grandma's friends at Monti's Fish and Chips, however, Tina finds that she loves stone crab as well as turkey, and that Grandma's new social set is pretty nifty too. While initially upsetting, Carlson seems to say, change is not always for the worse--as her typically endearing rodent family discovers. This subtle but important message is served up with jazzy trimmings--snappy beach attire, abstract furnishings--and makes its point deftly. Ages 3-8. (Sept.)