Amy Elizabeth Explores Bloomingdale's

Newbery Medalist Konigsburg ( From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler ), who featured her grandson, Samuel Todd, in two prior picture books, here names her heroine after her granddaughter. Youngsters may miss the irony of the title, since Amy Elizabeth--a Houston resident who is staying with her grandmother in Manhattan--never does make it to Bloomingdale's. Though they repeatedly plan to visit ``the most famous store in the world,'' the duo gets sidetracked by some of the city's other attractions, including Chinatown, the Empire State Building, the Carnegie Deli and a Broadway musical. Amy Elizabeth's rambling, first-person narrative is chatty and entertaining, even if she doesn't always speak in credible, age-appropriate jargon--``I am a child who enjoys a good pickle.'' Konigsburg's large-scale, characteristically realistic color pictures, together with black-and-white panels similar to film frames, offer a vivid portrait of a distraction-filled city--and a most affectionate relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)