Lily

Thomas and Low's tender story of Lily, a dog who apprehensively moves from a Boston apartment to a house in Vermont, reveals the ripening of their talents since Wake Up, Wilson Street. Thomas's language grows playful as she introduces Lily, who ``is just the right size for sitting on Eliza's lap with a little left over.'' Lily's cozily predictable life with Eliza screeches to a halt when the movers arrive. `` `Hi pooch,' said one of them to Lily. Nobody had ever called Lily pooch before. . . .'' Low, now chalking with softer edges and more emotion, ingeniously conveys Lily as a figure both rueful and comic: grabbed by Eliza, Lily dangles helplessly in midair, her beloved rubber hedgehog dropping from her mouth. But despite Lily's fears, she quickly discerns the benefits of her new rural life even as she sees that her familiar belongings--both furniture and Eliza's lap--came to Vermont with her. This gently humorous book teaches that home, even if a doghouse, is where the heart is. Ages 4-7. (Mar.)