Climbing Kansas Mountains

When Sam's father suggests that they ``climb a Kansas mountain,'' skeptical Sam says, ``Sure . . . and watch pigs fly,'' but he changes his mind after his father drives him to the grain elevators where they climb ``as high as eight houses stacked like blocks.'' Sam thinks the land looks like their tablecloth, ``but with ribbons of road instead of red,'' and his house seems to be ``hiding under trees like a sneaky cat.'' With homespun imagery and a laconic style, Shannon's ( Dancing the Breeze ) text emphasizes Sam's pleasure in ``sharing time'' alone with his father: ``just me--no brothers--in the big front seat.'' Allen's ( In Coal Country ; Going West ) pastel illustrations are among his best and are particularly well suited to the text: the green patchwork countryside fairly shimmers in the hazy sunlight, while the heat at the dusty, small-town intersection is nearly palpable. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)