Good-Bye, House

Bidding farewell to a much-loved home isn't always easy, especially for a child. On moving day, as her parents pack the truck, a girl reluctantly makes the rounds of the empty rooms, reliving fond memories--toasting marshmallows in the living room fireplace, recording her growth on the edge of her bedroom door, the small hole in the bathroom ceiling where the rain dripped in. The story ends on an upbeat note as she arrives at her new house and promptly makes a friend (``I think I will like it here''). The clean, uncluttered design and pared-down lines of Ballard's sweet pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons echo the simplicity of this sharply focused story that so accurately chronicles one of childhood's important transitions. Ages 3-up. (Mar.)