Once There Was a House

A cardboard box becomes a house with ""roof,'' ``chimney'' and ``porchlight,'' made from more cardboard and other objects. With the addition of another house (this time with a stove, table and sink), a gas station and a car, an army of children can play ``town.'' Instructions help readers create their own little houses from ordinary household items items that normally would be thrown away but here become working parts of an ingenious little city. Both story and guide sections have pictures jammed with cheerful children, in cartoon-bright colors, using bottle lids for knobs, mailing tubes for posts and pliers made from clothespins, and safety precautions are stressed. This book is an invitation to be creative, and it's easy to see there's really no limit to what can be accomplished with the ideas in this book. Ages 3-6. (July)