Time to Go

Allen's subdued charcoal and colored-pencil drawings ( In Coal Country ) set a somber tone for this story of a family move that will separate a child from his beloved farm. Each double-page spread reveals an aspect of farm life the boy will miss: ``I'd like to find a lush green pasture for Old Nell,'' he says, or, ``I'd like to put down fresh straw and make everything the way it was.'' At the end of the book the boy imagines himself coming back some day, but knows, as his father says, that ``For now it's time to go.'' The hard times facing families that must abandon their farms is a worthy topic, but the Fidays' nostalgic view of the bucolic life is undercut by their relentlessly sentimental text--such as when the boy's dog ``licks a tear from his cheek'' as they sadly ride away. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)