A Family Story

Weiss's new picture book celebrates love in this softspoken and endearing telling. Rachel and her baby sister Annie are instant best friends, and the bond persists through the years. Grownup Annie, her sister's bridesmaid, later assumes the role of teacher-companion to Rachel's child Louise; Louise is there when Aunt Annie's daughter Jane is born . . . ""and so on.'' Appealing but not at all sentimental, Weiss's story is graced by her familiar artwork. Pictures in pastel colors illustrate the good friends' exhilarating and often funny escapades on Halloween, at summer camp, playing dress-upgenerations of memorable occasions. Ages 5-8. (March)