Big Band Sound

""That's the Big Band Sound,"" says Arlis's oddly distant mother as she and Arlis watch musicians performing on TV. Sitting rather forlornly in an armchair, the woman proclaims it ""my kind of music""-a phrase her daughter echoes as she becomes mesmerized by the fast-moving arms of the band's drummer and the sounds he produces. The following day, Arlis fashions a homemade set of drums out of an empty paint container and other ``jumble'' stored in a shed. She reluctantly leaves off her drumming to accompany her mother to the store, but when she returns she is heartbroken to discover that her father (who, curiously, is never pictured here) has put out her ""drums"" as trash and that the garbage truck has borne them off. There is-at long last-a happy ending to Diller's (Grandaddy's Highway) rambling, wordy tale. More memorable than the text are Shine's (Stradivari's Singing Violin) watercolor and gouache paintings, which give the story a gracious, seaside setting and credibly communicate the aspiring young musician's changeable moods. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)