THE RUNAWAY VALENTINE

A boastful Valentine card learns how scrap paper feels in this sentimental debut by Casey and Smythe. Victor had everything, "the lace, the glitter, the sparkles, and he could sing twenty different love songs when you pushed a secret button on his belt." But when he accidentally falls to the grimy floor and performs a "marching cartwheel out of the store," this once-proud card becomes mere litter. A boy bends him into a scoop, a woman scrawls an address on him and a man uses him as shoe-padding until "there was nothing left of Victor but a little round piece of pink cardboard covered with red glitter." Casey redeems the sorry shred by making it part of a girl's handmade card to her grandmother. Smythe aptly illustrates the escapade in cut paper and cloth, collage components that might have come from forsaken greeting cards or sewing-box remnants. Victor actually gains value when he becomes a handicraft instead of a store-bought item, and his triumph ought to warm the hearts of those who fashion their own homemade cards and gifts. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)