The Trotter Street tales are Hughes's exemplary picture stories about children old enough to interact independently with their peers and also with people of all ages. A new version groups this quartet of picture story books in which Hughes developed a context for some of the first decisions children at that stage make themselves. Contemporary intergenerational, mixed racial neighborhood, and school communities provide the fictional and visual contexts. In Angel Mae (1989) a little girl finds a way to star in the class Christmas play in a freshly conceived story paralleled with her family's new baby. The Big Concrete Lorry (1990) involves a neighborhood response to one family's dilemma after adding a room to their home. The Snow Lady (1990) addresses the issue of a mean-spirited childhood trick at the expense of an older neighbor. In Wheels (1991) a boy who didn't get a new bike for his birthday can still participate in a noncompetitive neighborhood race for all manner of wheels. The characters featured in one story appear in the neighborhood of the other three stories. A glossary of a dozen British words is included for Americans. Children familiar with the original separate books will miss some of the illustrations and notice more words on each page. All were first published in the USA by Lothrop, Lee and Shepard. (Ages 4-8)

Welcome to Trotter Street -- a place invented by Shirley Hughes, and yet as familiar to readers as their own neighborhoods. Now four wonderfully warm and funny stories about the families who live there -- Angel Mae, The Big Concrete Lorry, Wheels, and The Snow Lady -- are collected in one volume. And on every page, Shirley Hughes's brilliant and loving eye vividly captures the delicious, delightful ordinariness of side-by-side, day-to-day life.