Grandaddy's Highway

This out-of-the-ordinary book celebrates an active imagination and the diversity of the American road. One evening during a visit to her grandparents Maggie and Grandaddy envisage a cross-country drive at the wheel of a large freight truck. Their scenic odyssey leads ``as far west as you can go on 30 West''--past Pittsburgh, Chicago, across the Mississippi and over the Rocky Mountains, and finally to the Pacific Ocean. Diller's warm intergenerational story offers a subtle geography lesson in the form of a loosely structured fantasy, peppered with such childlike images as fetching a cold drink ``right out of the ground'' at Soda Springs, Idaho. Sorensen's painterly illustrations handsomely contrast the grandeur of nature with true-to-life portraits of attractively ordinary folk. Despite a bland cover and a rather abrupt beginning, this collaboration exudes a quiet, down-home charm. Ages 6-9. (Mar.)