Ed and Me

The focus of McPhail's heartening story is neither Ed, an old blue pickup truck, nor the narrator, a small girl, but the three-way friendship that also includes the girl's farmer father. Father and daughter admire a neighbor's truck and, when it comes up for sale, they buy it. Over time Ed proves a faithful carrier of wood and produce; the site of an overnight--well, almost overnight--camp-out; a major participant in a Fourth of July celebration. Eventually it comes time to repay Ed: ``My father says that when you get to be Ed's age you have to start taking things easy.'' Ed is given loving care from local mechanics, and together the girl and her father build a garage, ``a small barn,'' to shelter Ed from winter storms. McPhail's luminous ink-and-watercolor illustrations reflect the warmth of his text. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)