Billy Bean's Dream

Awash in retro colors, British author/artist Lia's spare, childlike art propels the motion of this snappy paper-over-board volume, in which a jelly bean named Billy has a dream: ""to build a rocket and blast himself into space."" A succession of multihued jelly beans appear on the scene carrying a variety of materials with which to help Billy. As the clever candy characters fashion a rocket ship out of some kid-ticklingly bizarre items (a wooden wardrobe, a pair of skis, a pink bathtub), young readers get a minilesson on counting and colors, as ""4 green jellybeans sawed wood and hammered nails. 3 red jellybeans made sandwiches. 2 yellow jellybeans planned the journey,"" etc. In an initially disappointing turn of events, Billy is inadvertently left behind: ""He watched his dream machine fly far away."" Yet this optimist bounces back quickly, setting out to tackle his ""new dream"": building a telescope with which he watches passing rockets fly by. A pleasant flight of fancy. Ages 3-7. (Oct.)