The line between reality and fantasy blurs convincingly in this humorous exploration of a young boy's propensity to transform everyday objects into larger-than-life fantasies. When Ludlow Grebe's parents sign him up for a baseball team, they hope to give him `` `something real to think about.' '' However, since everything he encounters is fodder for his fertile imagination, Ludlow merely transforms the uneventful outfield into a towering stadium filled with fantastical fans watching a ballgame between two teams of human-sized insects. Ludlow's acute 6 powers of observation pay off when he is whisked into the lineup, overcomes his jitters at bat, and swats in the winning run. Much of the action in this deftly told story takes place in impressionistic, ``retro-'40s-style'' illustrations, making this engaging picture book best suited for one-on-one sharing or small group read-alouds. Rendered in deeply hued, brightly colored acrylics, fey-faced, red-headed Ludlow and his benignly oblivious parents have a childlike flatness and simplicity that belie the depth and complexity of this tale. Like those in Mercer Mayer's There's a Nightmare in My Closet (Dial, 1990), the monsters in this child's world are winsomely weird. Teague's window to childhood is wide open, allowing him to address the realities of youthful fantasies without trivializing them. Old fans and new will cheer this latest hit. --Dorothy Houlihan, formerly at White Plains Public Library, NY Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.