The Red Hat

It's not the characters that are the main draw in Teague's (Franklin's Big Dreams) story%E2%80%94it's the wind, which Portis (Wait) represents with sinuous lines (highlighted with transparent spot gloss) overlaid over big expanses of sky. Billy Hightower lives at the very top of "the world's tallest building," and all he has for company is the wind. (Portis shows him on the roof in a red scarf gazing up at the sky, wavy lines swirling across it.) When a high-rise is built close by and a girl in a red hat appears on its roof, Billy tries all kinds of strategies to meet her%E2%80%94a paper airplane, a kite%E2%80%94but the wind foils every attempt. At last the wind carries Billy to her place, though it's not an easy trip (Billy's town seems ready to challenge Chicago for the title of Windy City). The idea of a friend who's close yet far away provides intrigue, as does the puzzle of how to bridge that distance. The glance the two children exchange on the final page, though, suggests not adventure, but romance. Ages 3%E2%80%935. (Dec.)