Road Might Lead to Anywhere

This is the third of Laroche's picture books ( Sing a Song of People ; General Store ) using his cut-paper collage technique. He colors, cuts and pastes, coming up with dazzling results. In this book--which shows tremendous growth over his previous two--a girl takes a walk past a seaside town, through a witch's thicket, into smart shops, across a desert, to Mexico and to Maine. The pages are intricately designed, with each small fruit, leaf and stick of wood individually cut out and applied to create busy, colorful scenes. The slim story line, told in verse, merely provides a framework on which to hang the intriguing art. Observant readers will marvel at the artist's patience and creativity. Ages 4-8. (Nov.)