Daydreams

Few can match Cazet ( A Fish in His Pocket ; Frosted Glass )--a master of school-age slice-of-life in picture book format. Featuring perhaps the most sweetly anthropomorphized and consistently childlike animals ever to populate an elementary school, Cazet's books always manage to convey the emotional dimensions that anchor the reality of a child's life. In softly toned watercolors, Cazet documents a class of first graders and their teacher on ``a blustery day for daydreams.'' Miss Williams's class just can't seem to keep their minds on the tasks at hand. Neither homework nor dinosaurs nor recess can contain their wide-ranging imaginations. An understanding and loving teacher, Miss Williams observes that ``wishes and dreams travel with daydreams.'' By the day's--and the book's--end, teacher and students alike have indulged their rich fantasy lives. Ages 4-7. (Aug.)