A chair is a ship, a fort, or something to sit on to protect one's ice cream from the dog in this appealing, original picture book. The diverse neighborhood children gather outdoors with their chairs, from an old tire to a wheelchair to an upturned cardboard box. Each child briefly muses about his or her own chair, while a colorful illustration reveals the sitting device in the mind's eye. "My chair is squishy. It eats people," one African American girl says of her overstuffed pink armchair. Behind her, in the panel, readers see her as a masked superhero swooping down to rescue her brother from the chair's clutches. Attentive readers will watch each spread for the recurring turtle, stuffed rabbit, and the large, mysterious gift-wrapped present that in the end turns out to be the smallest chair of all--a baby seat for special guest Rosa. Imaginative vignettes, a genuinely childlike perspective, and absorbing illustrations with an expressively drawn cast of characters distinguish this surprising flight of fancy. Karin Snelson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved