If Somebody Lived Next Door

First-time author Hough uses simple, repetitive language to describe the imaginary neighbors invented by a lonely girl in this pleasing small-format book. Olivia Wendell has no one to play with: ""All was quiet by day. All was dark by night."" In an embedded semi-cumulative tale, she fantasizes about a wild family of animals and people moving into the empty house next door. The illustrations provide a happy ending not written in the text, showing a moving van being unloaded, a child being helped out of a car and, finally, Olivia and her future friend face-to-face. Kvasnosky's (One, Two, Three, Play with Me!) blithe cartoon art, flooded with clear solid colors (including pink, yellow and melon skies), gives people dots for eyes and surprised-looking O's for mouths. While this makes them more generalized than individual, it suits the story's breezy ingenuousness. The sheep, horses and dogs cavort with such high-voltage good humor that they steal whatever scene they're in. The farm animals in vigorous motion and a curved horizon line on every page energize this quiet country story by giving it a topsy-turvy feel. Ages 2-4. (June)