Watch William Walk

This adept, attractive book is anchored in two fanciful ground rules: every word begins with the letter ""W""; every image is an aerial view of William, Wilma, the dog Wally and the duck Wanda at the beach. The slight story is told through the patterns of footprints in the sand as much as through the necessarily restricted text: in one spread, ""William whittles. Wally whimpers""; in the next, they are gone but their footprints head off the page, and the text reads, ""William won't wait. Wally won't wait."" Jonas's (Splash!) simple, innovative watercolor and black pen illustrations stream with clear golden light. The spreads show sandy expanses, washed with yellow-green and traced with loops of cool gray footprints, paw prints and bird tracks. The overhead perspective renders characters relatively abstract and anonymous as it makes visible only the tops of their heads and their shadows. And plot doesn't drive the book any more than character: the biggest burst of action--after some wandering and waiting--consists of Wilma wading. But the text may inspire kids to make up their own alliterative tales, and the sunny, airy illustrations make this book as pleasant as a day at the beach. Ages 3-up. (Apr.)