GOIN' TO BOSTON: An Exuberant Journey in Song

Margolin revives an Appalachian folk song in this jaunty lyrical tale about traveling to Boston. A blue-smocked girl on her bicycle, basket brimming with red tulips, sets out from the countryside: "Good-bye, Pappy,/ I'm goin' to Boston,/ Ear-lye in the morning." She's soon joined by a growing assortment of fellow travelers and animals who bounce, beep and clippity-clop along the route and reveal the destination ("Won't we look pretty on the Common,/ Ear-lye in the morning"). A farmer atop his tractor carting a prize-winning pig, a band of musicians and a shepherd with his eager flock number among the visitors to the Boston Common, depicted in Bolam's (Sleepy, Sleepy!) briskly blithe paintings. Old-fashioned vehicles (a bus with chickens and suitcases tied on top joins the procession) and people in vintage dress recall a simpler era as they parade over creamy peach-colored hills and blue-green fields on which swirls of thick paint add texture. Three full-color spreads depict their arrival at the bustling Common. Bolam evokes the ebullient atmosphere of a well-loved park on a sunny afternoon, with maypole dancing, fiddling and jump-roping. The song's sheet music and a lengthy historical note complete the book. All ages will appreciate the upbeat rhythm and cheery pictures that nostalgically celebrate communal green spaces. Ages 3-7. (June)