Button

Overtaken by wanderlust, an enterprising button pops off its owner's coat and sets out in search of adventure. After serving stints as a spare wheel for a farmer's wagon, a plate for a hungry wolf and a weather vane for a pig's house, the fastener-cum-traveler finds a kindred spirit in a sad, homeless snail. Together they explore the world until the original owner, ``who had never stopped searching for his beautiful red button,'' finds them. Debut author Fanelli's abundant visual energy drives this offbeat story. Her quirky collage illustrations are accented with stylishly scribbled crayon drawings (the frantic-looking wolf is pure inspiration). Playfully underscoring the book's circular theme, the text winds itself around the perimeter of the images on successive spreads, forcing the reader to turn the book around and around. The black matte, jacketless cover is adorned with a large, bright-red button that spins, alternately revealing and concealing the characters pictured beneath it. Shifting the emphasis away from the meager plot, such details will no doubt appeal to the design-minded subset of children's book aficionados. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)