Dinnie Abbie Sister-R-R!

The author of Watch the Stars Come Out now relates a story from her Brooklyn beginnings, in the days when using the telephone was a rarity and when all siblings' names were sewn together as one. Yet was she, five-year-old Jennie, really one of them? She was always behind, as older brothers Abbie and Dinnie hopped about, seemingly ""full of beans.'' And they got to go on the elevated train to yeshiva, while she stayed behind, albeit with her fun-loving mother and aunt. The episodic chapters take place over a year's time, during which Abbie falls sick with a paralytic illness, recovers, and Jennie finally gets her first ride on the train. Well-researched atmospheric illustrations aptly show off the warmth of a genuine family where putting bananas across their teeth form the basis for future memories, and where one girl finds she, too, can be ``full of beans.'' Ages 6-8. (March)