My Best Shoes

From barnyard to beach, from city lights to country meadows, this exuberant collaboration features a multicultural cast and a collection of footwear that would put a gleam in Imelda Marcos's eye. Burton's sprightly verses (``On Friday I wore new shoes / Bright and shiny blue shoes / Twinkling in the light shoes / Sparkling in the night shoes / What a pretty sight shoes!'') skip nimbly across each page, begging to be read aloud, and giving each day of the week, each new narrator and each pair of shoes its own special flavor. Ransome's ( Red Dancing Shoes ) vibrant oil paintings at times recall Caroline Binch's Amazing Grace ; his medium and style are different, but he has the same knack for catching children joyously being themselves. Ages 3-up. (May)