Willy and the Cardboard Boxes

Willy spends the day at his dad's office, where a shipment of new computers has just arrived. After the big boxes have been opened and emptied, Willy is free to play with them. Markers, scissors and string--and a lively imagination--help the boy transform the cartons into a variety of vehicles and other objects. He builds a plane in which he ``flies over fields and mountains'' as well as a rowboat, horse, fire engine and train. When he gets hungry, Willy has lunch at a restaurant furnished with tables and chairs made from boxes. And when he becomes sleepy, he curls up for a nap in a cozy cardboard house. Although Boyd ( Bailey the Big Bully ; The Not-So-Wicked Stepmother ) offers a well-meaning celebration of a child's inventiveness, her text and two-dimensional pictures--in which Willy's facial expression varies very little from page to page--lack spark. Ages 2-6. ( May )