L'Enfant Cowboy

""In the time of then and once, of yet and still and will be, a boy lived deep in the canyons of the city,"" opens Tibo's (the Simon picture-book series) labored, open-ended fantasy. Barefoot and ragged, the homeless, solitary Cowboy Kid plays in a city dump, riding a ""horse"" made from a rusty oil drum and a mop. One day the lad awakens ""on the other side of sleep"" (Has he died?) to find a golden horse, which carries the boy through the sky. Rocking horses, horse statues and carousel horses break away and follow the flying duo. When the animals touch down and ride through ""grand museums,"" horses leap out of paintings to run with them. Rising up ""beyond the borders of time,"" the horses are ""all free together in one great wild race under the pale, white moon."" First-time illustrator Kapas's paintings look frozen, even though they are meticulously detailed and imaginatively conceived. In the last illustration, for example, a child lies in her bed, an expression of awe on her face, while horses rise off her patterned pillowcase and make their way toward the airborne herd that is visible in the night sky. Due out simultaneously is a French-language edition, entitled L'enfant cow-boy ($16.95 ISBN 0-88776-511-4). Ages 5-7. (May)