The Red Armchair

Few children's books these days encourage imagination. This book is one of them. Patti goes to a neighbor's garage sale with her parents and finds a big, dirty old red armchair that would make a nice place for her to curl up. They buy it. After scrubbing and cleaning, the family sets the armchair in their living room, good as new. Patti then pretends the chair is her castle, until her invading brothers steal her ground. Next, the chair becomes her jungle. Hunters capture her camp.When Patti's mom plops into the chair to read her newspaper, Patti and her brothers attack the dragon, who retreats. The chair also doubles as Patti's race car, wild-West stagecoach, airplane, tugboat--and the queen's throne. Imaginary games can be more fun than what comes in boxes and on computer screens. This book shows kids the ropes. Alyssa A. Lappen