Roller Coaster

All sorts of people ride roller coasters, people over a certain height that is. Marla Frazee zooms in on one pony-tailed girl who has never experienced a roller coaster before, ever, in this start-to-finish ride. The anticipation builds much like it does in real-life: "S-l-o-w-l-y the train is pulled up the hill by a chain. Clickity, clackity. Clickity, clackity. Up. Up. Up. And then..." As the train zips and zooms and dips and dives, the pony-tailed girl in the very front seat loves every minute, or almost. In the end, "Most of these people are dizzy./ Some of them have wobbly knees./ But at least one of them is planning/ to ride the roller coaster again." Frazee's crisply detailed watercolor drawings of waiting people, happy people, terrified people, and dizzy people are fun to peruse. Youngsters who are Disneyland-bound (or who would just like to be) may be the best audience for this minute-by-minute replay of a roller-coaster ride. (Ages 4 to 7) --Karin Snelson