Moving House

Foggytown%E2%80%94rendered evocatively in misty gray panels%E2%80%94used to be nice, "before the factory"; now no one can see the stars anymore. Chloe and Joey's father and mother plan to move away, but the children, who love their house, with its warm spot in the kitchen and its "long vrooming hallway," wish the house could go with them. In the middle of the night, the house%E2%80%94drawn with spindly arms and legs and a concerned expression%E2%80%94"wiggled and jiggled, and everything went whoa this way and whoa that way." "Hang on tight, little people!" the house says lovingly as it takes them up through the fog to see the stars. In his authorial debut, Siegel's (Boogie Knights) background as an illustrator (and an editor) serve him well; his vignettes and spreads are drafted in clean ink lines, with watercolor washes of blue and red signaling the clean skies above Foggytown. He's crafted a strong story, too, one in which the environmental theme figures largely, but doesn't overpower its greatest draw%E2%80%94the victory of Chloe and Joey's dreams over their parents' "sensible" plans. Ages 3%E2%80%936. (Sept.)