Hurry Granny Annie

As Alda's (Pig, Horse, or Cow, Don't Wake Me Now) jaunty tale opens, Ruthie is floating in an inner tube with her fishing pole when Granny Annie rushes by. Wearing an outlandishly dotted dress and sneakers but otherwise resembling the wizened granny of the Beverly Hillbillies, she is chanting what becomes a refrain, ""Have to hurry. Can't be late. Catching something. Something great."" Still clutching her pole, the girl follows Granny Annie. In no time at all Ruthie's brother (wearing a baseball mitt) and friend Charlie (carrying a butterfly net) fall in behind them. Each time the youngsters ask Granny what she intends to catch, her response is interrupted by an enormous sneeze that sends her, the kids and a growing accompaniment of animals flying into the air. Reaching ""the end of the road where the ocean began,"" the woman announces with relief that they are, indeed, in time to catch something great--the sunset. The kids are disappointed that fishing pole, mitt and net won't be helpful in making the catch, until they witness the sky and sea turning ""from blue to pink to orange."" Aldridge's (Sarah's Story) pictures, often ungainly in their depictions of the human characters, are at their best with the sunset sequences; these spreads convey the splendor of the glowing sun, its light and its reflection in the water. Providing an added treat for kids are the critters the illustrator slips into her scenes: a bird tries to snatch the worm from Ruthie's rod, a frog perches on Granny's hat and a raccoon peeks out from a sewer grate. Ages 4-7. (Aug.)