Friday's Journey

When the doorbell rings on Friday, Chris, whose parents are divorced, knows that his father has come to pick him up for the weekend. The boy bids his mother goodbye, and he and Dad head for a New York City subway station. Chris's animated first-person narration reveals his excitement as the train arrives: ``I see the eyes of the train glow in the distance. I feel its warm subway breath blow against my face.'' On board, Chris pretends that he is the engineer, in control of the throttle, and announces, ``I can take my train anywhere.'' In a fresh if not fully exploited development, Chris steers his train through the landscape of his memory: on the three wordless spreads that follow, Rush's ( The Seltzer Man ) impressionistic oil paintings show Chris with both of his parents in several appealing settings. Once they have left the subway, Chris's dad asks him what he wants to do that weekend. Not surprisingly, the child answers that he wants to return to one of the places ``where we used to go with Mom.'' Although it is disjointed, this bittersweet story will strike a familiar chord with many children. Ages 2-6. (Mar.)