Polka and Dot

Energy radiates from the kinetic, light-splashed artwork in this tale of true friendship. Polka, a green-crested bird, and Dot, a long-limbed dog, are devoted to each other, and they jitterbug and mambo together whenever they can. But when summer comes, Dot must go to the countryside with her owner's family, leaving her feathered friend behind. With help from a painted gargoyle and a scarecrow, brave Polka flies higher and longer and further than ever before to track down her soulmate. While the plot is slender, the picture book as a whole is a charmer. A playful text snaps with humor as it depicts a city in motion (``she sees men balancing heavy sticks in the clouds'') and loosely daubed illustrations ripple with luminescent color, with warmth, until each page pulses with joy. Schutzer (illustrator of Patricia McKissack's A Million Fish . . . More or Less ) has captured the delight of camaraderie. Ages 3-7. (June)