A City Christmas Tree

It's truly Christmastime in the city when the Christmas tree man sets up shop on Maggie Laroche's street corner. Maggie and her three siblings visit the tree at the end of their block, each dreaming about what they think is best about it ("It spiced up the air with the freshest of zest,/ like a day in the spray of the sea," Maggie thinks). By week's end, the whole LaRoche family "carried it merrily home." Lyric descriptions ("the deeply, densely green-blue hue," etc.) and fanciful acrylic paintings will surely convince readers that even city-dwellers succumb to holiday magic. Ages 3-6. (Oct.)