FEBRUARY 1997 * 197 THE BIG PICTURE A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder written and illus. with photographs by Walter Wick "We are going to spend an hour today in following a drop of water on its travels. If I dip my finger in this basin of water and lift it up again, I bring with it a small glistening drop out of the water below and hold it before you. Tell me, have you any idea where this drop has been? What changes it has undergone, and what work it has been doing during all the long ages it has lain on the face of the earth?" -Arabella B. Buckley, The Fairy-Land ofScience, 1878 Both this opening quotation and the book it introduces invite readers to see the world of science in a new way, with eyes refreshed by a unique visual inter- pretation of the everyday. Children (and librarians) are already familiar with Walter Wick from his collaborations with Jean Marzollo on the "I Spy" series (ISpy Christ- mas, ISpy Funhouse, ISpy SchoolDays, etc.), in which objects, identified in rhymes, are hidden in elaborately constructed, theme-related sets designed and photographed with meticulous, joyful intensity by Wick. But this title is a departure from that series' deliberately cluttered, crowded fun. In A Drop of Water, Wick turns his camera's eye to fifteen simple science experiments involving water and its properties. A discussion of "water's smallest parts" is illustrated by a greatly enlarged photograph of the head of a shiny, silver pin covered with shimmering droplets of water. (The extraordinary nature of this photograph is further emphasized by an insert of the pin at its actual size.) The elasticity of water is vividly and graphically depicted in a series of photographs showing a drip from a faucet as it drops into a pool of silvery liquid, causing mer- curial ripples. A brown egg splashes into a clear glass of water, the splash captured so perfectly it looks like blown glass. An experiment with soap bubbles presents the usual soapy sphere, followed by unusual curlicues and cubes. Sequentially arranged time-lapse photographs illustrate the processes of condensation, evapora- tion, and cloud formation. Outstanding visuals combine with science facts seemingly without ef- fort. A page full of snowflakes set against a shaded blue background is fascinating not only for its visual impact, but for the simplicity and elegance of the scientific concept it illustrates: "When a snowflake melts, its intricate design is lost forever in a drop of water. But a snowflake can vanish in another way. It can change directly from ice to vapor." A sequence of five photographs shows a single snowflake as it gradually disappears. The dramatic interaction of water and light is shown in the photo of a single glass of water refracting the rays of a beam of light, resulting in a luminous rainbow cast on dark paper. From surface tension to capillary action, from condensation to evaporation, Wick leads the reader from experiment to ex- periment in eminently clear language and extraordinarily vivid images that makes simple scientific concepts memorable and magical. 198 * THE BULLETIN This title is an elegant synthesis of science and art: the spare, almost architectural purity of Wick's compositions for each individual image or sequence of images is riveting; the close-up photographs are breathtakingly distinct; and the clarity provided by the combination of concept, text, and photography of this quality is noteworthy. Concluding notes give tips on how to successfully complete each experiment. In an author's note "About This Book," Wick gives some background on his career as a photographer, his fascination with science, and his collection of science books from the nineteenth century, explaining that many of the experi- ments in this book are the same as or similar to those used in books to introduce science to children a hundred years ago. The need to communicate scientific concepts to the young with clarity and precision is a given. The ability to do so is a combination of knowledge, craft, and art, and Walter Wick apparently has a gift for all three. (Imprint information appears on p. 226.) Janice M. Del Negro, Editor // NEW BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AARDEMA, VERNA, ad. The Lonely Lioness and the Ostrich Chicks: A Masai Tale; illus. by Yumi Heo. Knopf, 1996 32p Library ed. 0-679-96934-9 $18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 0-679-86934-4 $17.00 R 5-8 yrs A lonely, childless lioness diverts four ostrich chicks away from their mother, and the distraught mother ostrich appeals to a variety of savannah animals for help in getting them back. The fierce little mongoose challenges the big cat with "Lioness, you are a bigger fool than I thought you were!" Angrily preoccupied with the mongoose, lioness doesn't notice when Mother Ostrich gathers up her chicks and walks them home, "tuk-pik, tuk-pik, tuk-pik." A picture-book adaptation of a story originally published in an earlier Aardema collection, this is distinguished by the quality of its illustrations. Heo's paintings have the same playful characteris- tics of her The Green Frogs (BCCB 10/96): the animal characters interact in a free- floating, fantasy environment as lioness droops in the branches of a tree, mongoose lolls in the sun, and ostrich leads her chicks home in an orderly line. The energy of the compositions reflects the action of the plot, and the combination is a successful one. This Masai folktale has a strong internal chronology of events that can be easily adapted to creative dramatics and interactive storytimes. Source notes are included. JMD AYRES, KATHERINE Family Tree. Delacorte, 1996 165p ISBN 0-385-32227-5 $15.95 Ad Gr. 4-6 Tyler is worried when her sixth-grade class is required to do a project on family trees: she knows it hurts Papa to talk about Tyler's mother, who died long ago in FEBRUARY 1997 * 199 a car crash, and she knows Papa won't talk about the rest of the family, whom she has never met. Soon Tyler's curiosity makes her push Papa farther than she has before, and she finds out the truth: Papa was an Amishman who fell in love with a writer when she came to do a book on his community; when he married her, both families cut the couple off. The depiction of Tyler's awareness of and uncer- tainty about her difference is subtle and convincing, and Ayres credibly allows the family's practices and beliefs to reflect Tyler's father's upbringing even as he re- fuses to acknowledge it. The plot contrivances and the melodramatic aspects (Tyler's maternal grandparents never knew Tyler existed, and Tyler brings the families together again) overwhelm the story, however, and Tyler's reading of her mother's diary is both sentimental and cliched. Still, this is a gentle and romantic story of hidden identities and long-lost families, and many young readers will relish it. DS BARBER, BARBARA E. Allie's Basketball Dream; illus. by Darryl Ligasan. Lee & Low, 1996 [32p] ISBN 1-880000-38-5 $14.95 Reviewed from galleys Ad 6-8 yrs "Someday I'm going to be the best basketball player ever!" Allie declares. She has a brand new basketball (compliments of her father) with which to practice, but she soon learns that, if she wants to improve, she will have to endure both her own initial lack of skill and the comments of other kids at the playground. Barber is hardly subtle about any sexist aspect of the game: three of Allie's friends make remarks to the effect that girls can't or shouldn't play basketball and the older boys laugh when Allie initially fails to sink a shot. The theme of perseverance, though admirable, is equally overdrawn. The shared love that Allie and her father feel for basketball and her father's encouragement of her interest are engaging details that add interest to characters whose appeal is dissipated by the plot's preachiness. Kids who also love the game will appreciate Allie's pride in owning a basketball and the excitement she feels when one of her shots finally drops through the net. Al- though the illustrations-drawings reworked using digital techniques-have a bright slickness suitable to the sport and to the optimistic tone, that slickness can become too pronounced, homogenizing faces and settings. This book is neither slam dunk nor air ball, just a good try that bounces off the rim. LM BARNES, JOYCE ANNETTE Promise Me the Moon. Dial, 1997 171p ISBN 0-8037-1798-9 $14.99 R Gr. 6-9 Annie, now thirteen (two years older than she was in The Baby Grand, the Moon in July, andMe, BCCB 1/94), is beginning to have some genuine teen problems. She and her boyfriend Claude have had what looks to be an unbreachable rift; she's been invited to apply for admission to the magnet school across town, which firmly marks her as an egghead; and, though she never acknowledges it, adolescent moodi- ness and attitude are starting to pervade her every thought. There are quite a few subplots going on around these main stories, which makes things meander a little, and the story ties up awfully neatly, but Barnes writes freshly and with tenderness of Annie's sometimes painful growth. Annie's narrative voice is particularly be- lievable in its self-doubt (can she really be the astronaut she dreams of being when she only gets a C in math?) and willful blindness (how could her boyfriend be so angry with her just because she told him the very hurtful truth?). The warm but understated depiction of a close-knit African-American family and community 200 * THE BULLETIN (the book is set in Cincinnati in 1971) gives the book-and, apparently, Annie- a sense of groundedness that contributes to the book's general air of hopefulness. Annie is an engaging heroine, and kids will enjoy watching her blossom. DS BARTOLETTI, SUSAN CAMPBELL Growing Up in Coal Country. Houghton, 1996 147p illus. with photographs ISBN 0-395-77847-6 $16.95 R Gr. 6-9 Inspired by the stories her Italian in-laws told of coming to northeastern Pennsyl- vania coal country, Bartoletti researched primary and secondary sources, from per- sonal family histories to mining inspection records, to piece together this picture of daily life in the Pennsylvania coal mines. The text is a combination of anecdotes and history, covering the division of labor in the mines (breaker boys, nippers, spraggers, and miners), the roles of the "sweethearts of the mines" (the mules) and the "harbingers of disaster" (the rats), the role of women and families, and life in the patch villages owned and run by the coal companies. The context is a bit sketchy (a timeline and a map would have been useful) and Bartoletti doesn't foot- note nearly enough, but the danger and tragedy of life in the mines and the bravery and loyalty it engendered have an inherent drama that makes this compelling read- ing. The layout is clean, spare, and attractive, with black-and-white archival pho- tographs placed generously throughout. A bibliography is included. JMD BENTLEY, JUDITH "Dear Friend": Thomas Garrett & William Still: Collaborators on the Underground Railroad. Cobblehill, 1997 [128p] illus. with photographs ISBN 0-525-65156-X $15.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 4-7 Discussing the correspondence between these antebellum abolitionists-Garrett, a white Maryland Quaker, and Still, a free black activist for the Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia-Bentley demonstrates how cooperation between black and white "stationmasters" provided stronger links in the escape route than members of ei- ther race could have offered working alone. The letter exchange discloses the perils faced by the runaways, plans for transporting the "contraband" northward, and occasionally even their settlement in the free states of Canada. Peripatetic organi- zation unfortunately mars the delivery of information throughout this volume as Bentley skips around chronologically, interjecting laudatory remarks and character sketches at will. Legal ramifications of the Fugitive Slave Act are not clearly ex- plained, and readers may be confused by the observation that "under Pennsylvania law [slaves] would be free as soon as they entered the state" even as the Dred Scott decision effectively revoked that right. Despite these flaws, readers and report writers may find it worth their while to sift and sort through the narrative to re- trieve eyewitness accounts of the Underground Railroad. EB BUNTING, EVE The Blue and the Gray; illus. by Ned Bittinger. Scholastic, 1996 [32p] ISBN 0-590-60197-0 $14.95 Reviewed from galleys M 6-9 yrs As the young narrator hangs around the framework of his family's new house, his father tells him and his best friend J.J. tales of a Civil War battle that was fought in the field just beyond their subdivision. The two friends-one white and one black- FEBRUARY 1997 * 201 are troubled to learn that many of the soldiers who fought on opposite sides of the battle had once been friends too. Since this particular battlefield remains un- marked, the boys resolve to make their own homes and memories a sort of living monument to the fallen soldiers and, when the narrator finds a bullet amid the construction rubble, he throws it into the sky rather than keep it as a souvenir. This slender tale fairly groans under the weight of its good intentions, but neither the sensibility nor the solemn, Veteran's-Day-style text rings true to a child's expe- rience. Two boys living in close proximity to battle sites could scarcely be so ignorant of the Civil War, and the narrator's imaginings, as portrayed in Bittinger's hazy oil paintings, sentimentalize and sanitize the bloody affair. Didactic verse, punctuated by the occasional rogue rhyme, swings from adult ("The three of us look out across a field/ all hillocky and hummocky/ with tufted grass and stubby flowers") to banal ("My dad says that's the saddest kind of war there is,/ though every war is sad/ and most are bad"). Suggestions for further reading are appended. EB CERULLO, MARY M. The Octopus: Phantom ofthe Sea; illus. with photographs by Jeffrey L. Rotman. Cobblehill, 1997 58p ISBN 0-525-65199-3 $16.99 R Gr. 4-8 This is a spellbinding look at the octopus, up close and personal. The color pho- tographs are crisp and the writing equally so in a layout nicely balanced between text blocks and visuals. Cerullo covers the life cycle of the octopus and its place in the unique group of cephalopods in accessible, descriptive language that dispels popular myths and replaces them with more fascinating fact. Camouflage, regen- eration, and jet propulsion are just a few of the octopus' tricks of the trade, and Cerullo brings them to briny life, including chatty information on topics such as the venomous, four-inch-long blue-ringed octopus of the South Pacific and the interactions between humans and octopuses in captivity. A glossary, bibliography, and index are included. JMD COOPER, MICHAEL L. Hell Fighters: African American Soldiers in World War I. Lodestar, 1997 [96p] illus. with photographs ISBN 0-525-67534-5 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-7 While library shelves sag under the weight of first-rate Civil War and World War II books, materials on the First World War are somewhat harder to come by. Cooper packs a lot into a little space in this account of the 369th Regiment, U.S. Army (nicknamed the Hell Fighters) that, despite its beginnings as an ill-equipped and poorly trained National Guard unit from Harlem, so distinguished itself on the Western Front that it was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French govern- ment. Yet even as foreign states honored them, these soldiers returned to face, in many cases, discrimination and abuse both outside and within the military, which reported that "niggers were feeling their oats a bit .. instructions had been given to take it out of them quickly, just as soon as they arrived, so as not to have trouble later on." The 369th's experience of trench warfare was, however, anything but unique, and the account of this regiment's deployment offers readers a vivid glimpse of life along the Front, in which "big battles... were infrequent. Most of the time soldiers manned muddy or dusty trenches and waited for something to happen." Period photos enhance the text, and an index is included. EB 202 * THE BULLETIN DELANEY, MICHAEL Deep Doo-Doo. Dutton, 1996 165p ISBN 0-525-45647-3 $14.99 R Gr. 4-6 In a clever play on election-year huffery and puffery, Delaney serves up a generous helping of political satire. Twelve-year-olds Bennet and Pete use their respective electronic and journalistic skills to disrupt the television broadcasts of a hypocriti- cal governor running for re-election. Through their electronic wizardry, they over- ride the station's signal and present, instead, a spokesdog-Pete's black Lab, Gus, decked out in a Dracula mask. As Gus stares soulfully into the camera, Pete reads his prepared scripts, using a disguised voice. Of course, Bennet's dad is the crack- erjack reporter covering this story, but believability is never really the issue. The utter looniness of the story is amplified by the many obvious parallels with Watergate-an anonymous source, meetings in parking garages, a fearless reporter. The plot will cause anyone over thirty to suffer flashbacks, and much of the not- so-subtle comedy may be lost on youngsters, but none of that gets in the way of the broadly punny humor. Even the clairvoyantly challenged will foresee the rather pat ending, but this one still gets the vote for laughs. SSV DEMI, ad. One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale; ad. and illus. by Demi. Scholastic, 1997 [36p] ISBN 0-590-93998-X $19.95 Reviewed from galleys R 5-8 yrs Claiming to stockpile against famine, the raja has for years demanded an unfair portion of his subjects' rice, but once hunger strikes, he feasts instead of sharing. When a clever villager returns the rice that falls from a basket bound for the palace, she asks as reward only one grain, to be doubled each day for thirty days. Every subsequent double-page spread shows animals delivering larger amounts of rice until the climactic fold-out of four pages of elephants lined up in ten rows of twenty-five or twenty-six each. The villager gathers the last of her reward and shares it with all the hungry people-including the raja. Intense crimsons and rich golds emphasize the power of royalty, while Demi's tiny, precise figures set against vertically geometric backgrounds seem especially suited to this Indian story about counting on a grand scale. A concluding chart shows the exact numbers mounting up and added together for a grand total of 1,073,741,823. Although different in style and tone from David Schwartz's How Much Is a Million? (BCCB 8/85), the two would make entertaining quantitative companions for the same age group. A source note is included. BH DIAKITI, BABA WAGUi, ad. The Hunterman and the Crocodile: A West African Folktale; ad. and illus. by Baba Wagud Diakitd. Scholastic, 1997 [32p] ISBN 0-590-89828-0 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys R* 4-7 yrs On a pilgrimage to Mecca, Bamba the Crocodile and his family grow faint, "their food and water diminished, and then finished." When Donso the Hunterman appears, they beg him to tie them together and carry them on his head back to the river. That done, they threaten to eat him. Donso asks a cow, a horse, a chicken, and a tree to intervene, but they all point out the injustice of humans to animals- until Rabbit, feigning disbelief that Donso could tie up the crocodiles and carry them, asks the crocodiles for a demonstration. Thus, the crocodiles are tricked and trapped again. Most variants stop here, as is the case with the well-known FEBRUARY 1997 * 203 Indian tale "The Brahman, the Tiger, and the Jackal," but Diakite's version goes on to resolve the situation: the crocodiles shed tears that will help Donso's sick wife get well, in exchange for which he releases them (without lingering nearby!). The narrative style is as rhythmic as the story episodes themselves. The questioned characters begin their speeches with an exclamation ("Mook!") and end by turning away with characteristic sounds repeated three times: "dingi-donga" for the cow, "keteba" for the horse, "ko" for the chicken, "sha" for the tree branches. Rhythm is also emphatic in Diakite's paintings on ceramic tile, in which dark shapes are outlined and decorated with patterned, thick white lines, all against a horizontally textured, sunset-orange background. The figures are solid, the folk-art borders simple, and the white space well balanced with the strong images. An author's note gives some cultural context and background on other variants, three of which are listed from recent collections and a picture book. BH DOYLE, BRIAN Uncle Ronald. Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre, 1997 137p ISBN 0-88899-266-1 $16.95 R Gr. 6-9 Now Canada's oldest living resident, Old Mickey tells the story of the crucial time in his childhood, "November, 1895, when the army came up from Ottawa to attack the people around the little town of Low," and when his mother sent him up to stay with his uncle Ronald in order to escape his father's vicious beatings. Mickey finds his gentle uncle, his cheerful cousins ("the O'Malley girls," middle- aged twins), his uncle's rescued hard-luck horse, and the townsfolk a wonder and a joy, and he follows with fascination their crafty struggle against the army's at- tempt to collect back taxes. Underneath the lighthearted war of wits, however, lurks the fear that his father will follow to collect Mickey and his newly arrived (and lately battered) mother, and that they will never be safe from his violence. As did Gary Paulsen in Harris andMe (BCCB 1/94), Doyle blends rustic humor with an inclusion of life's darker side, managing to balance both tones well without undercutting either. The clever rural folk are individual and entertaining, verging on tall-tale characters without ever becoming stereotypes, and the banter is amus- ing; Mickey's father is realistic and deeply frightening, and many readers will cheer the old-fashioned, unequivocal resolution that frees Mickey from him forever. There's more seriousness than in Doyle's Spud Sweetgrass books (BCCB 7/96), but the freshness of the writing, the richness of the cast, and the resilience of the comedy will draw the author's fans. DS DURBIN, WILLIAM The Broken Blade. Delacorte, 1997 [160p] ISBN 0-385-32224-0 $14.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 5-8 With his thumb severed in a household accident, Pierre's father is unable to make his annual canoe trek to Grand Portage with the voyageurs, and Pierre, who feels responsible for the accident, signs on as an oarsman to provide much-needed in- come for the family. Durbin wastes little time before plunging into the action, which transforms Pierre from classroom-softened boy to hard-muscled man under the rough tutelage of the crew. Practical jokes, vicious fistfights, treacherous rap- ids and violent lake storms, and the death of an honored crewman all play a part in Pierre's education, and by the return trip to Montreal, the young man is a sea- soned veteran who wisely withholds advice and allows a new cub on the river to learn lessons through experience. Pierre's musings about home and school intrude 204 * THE BULLETIN from time to time, but action-packed river scenes dominate the novel. This look at the early nineteenth-century Canadian fur trade should appeal to reluctant readers as well as adventure buffs, and it may be a welcome suggestion for middle-school historical fiction reports. EB FOREST, HEATHER, ad. Wisdom Tales from Around the World. August House, 1996 156p Trade ed. ISBN 0-874830478-3 $27.95 Paper ed. ISBN 0-87483-479-1 $17.95 R Gr. 4-8 Jataka tales from India, Zen tales from Japan, and Sufi tales from the Middle East are just a few of the attractions in this collection of fifty tales. The theme of the collection is wisdom, and the fine line between humor and irony is notably bal- anced. Forest's brief retellings (the average length is two pages) are succinct and clear, her language straightforward, and her selections well-organized. The occa- sional versifications (taking the form of concluding morals or stories in verse) while pithy, are not a strong component. The tales range from culture to culture, conti- nent to continent, with examples from European, American Indian, and African traditions, as well as Christianity, Judaism, and the Ancient Greeks. The austere but attractive design includes a large typeface, generous white space, and black- and-white borders based on graphic motifs and textile designs from the countries of origin. This collection is a valuable resource for storytellers and librarians as Forest's notes are extensive, providing a springboard to individual research of tale variants. A list of proverbs from around the world is included. JMD FREEMAN, MARTHA Stink Bomb Mom. Delacorte, 1996 154p ISBN 0-385-32219-4 $15.95 R Gr. 4-6 Twelve-year-old Aurora (Rory) and her aging hippie mom, Doria, live in a laid- back home filled with countless pet rodents, reptiles, and one spectacular little mutt, Agnes. Rory's best friend, Pookie, lives with her dad the mayor, her mom the perfect housewife, and her toddler brother Barney in a tense, albeit enviably tidy, home. With the help of Pookie, the self-possessed Rory copes with her ditzy mother (whose latest New-Age job is helping the gullible tap into their primal energies through aromatherapy, hence the title), an absentee father, threats to her pets, and her first crush, maintaining her equilibrium in the face of cougars, miss- ing children, and animal control officers. Freeman's brisk pace and agreeably sar- castic dialogue keeps the transparent yet entertaining plot whizzing satisfactorily along, propelled by human buffoonery and canine angst. Freeman's tone is stratospherically light but not without a certain edginess that lends what little cre- dence this spoof requires. An easy booktalk with an admirably level-headed hero- ine, this title comes out smelling like a rose. SSV GLIORI, DEBI The Snow Lambs; written and illus. by Debi Gliori. Scholastic, 1996 [35p] ISBN 0-590-20304-5 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys R 4-7 yrs When the first fat snowflakes begin to fall, Sam and his father bring the sheep in from the field. Only Bess the sheepdog realizes that one sheep is missing and promptly heads out to fetch the ewe home. The book begins with full and double- FEBRUARY 1997 * 205 page illustrations of Sam and his father gathering in the sheep, but then each double- page spread splits into two panels of varying proportions. While one panel shows the family's activities in the farmhouse, the other depicts Bess' adventures rescuing the errant sheep. The panels show Bess as she finds the sheep, digs a path through the snow, guides the ewe through the spooky woods, and-climactically-discov- ers a way across the swirling waters of Stony River. Once home, the very pregnant ewe bears a pair of "snow lambs" while Sam rewards his dog with a hug. Gliori's ewe is appropriately big-eyed and timid while Bess radiates canine confidence and courage. (Just take a look at the King-of-the-Mountain illustration in which Bess poses in noble profile against a huge moon and a suddenly snowless sky.) Gliori's watercolors, which subtly blend grays, purples, and greens in the outdoor scenes and yellows and reds inside Sam's house, effectively contrast the bitter cold of the snowstorm with the warmth of the farmhouse interiors. Children will appreciate Sam's concern for his dog and his joy when Bess and sheep come safely home. LM GOODMAN, JOAN ELIZABETH The Winter Hare. Houghton, 1996 255p ISBN 0-395-78569-3 $15.95 Ad Gr. 6-9 Twelfth-century England is in the grip ofwarfare between the forces of King Stephen and those of the Empress Matilda, both claimants to the throne; twelve-year-old Will Belet belongs to a family that supports the Empress. Will is sent off to Ox- ford Castle, where his step-uncle the earl takes him on as a page, and where Will encounters power plays, treachery, and battle, culminating in his spiriting away of the Empress Matilda from the besieged castle. This is near-generic historical fic- tion ("The peasants waved their ox-goads and shouted 'Hurrah!' as their lord and his men passed by"), with often unsubtle characterization and a piling on of events rather than any clear momentum. There's a fair amount of energetic swashbuck- ling, gentle moralizing, and atmospheric castle-life details (the depiction of siege life is particularly unusual), however, and it's all set in a period that's dramatic but fictionally underserved for younger readers (older readers can explore it with Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael). This doesn't have the imaginative reality of Cushman's Catherine Called Birdy (BCCB 6/94), but young knight wannabes may want to have a look. Historical notes are appended. DS GORRELL, GENA K. North Star to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad. Delacorte, 1997 168p illus. with photographs ISBN 0-385-32319-0 $17.95 R Gr. 4-8 Gorrell's history of the Underground Railroad is, more precisely, an introduction to the political history of slavery in the United States and Canada, emphasizing the earlier rejection of slavery by Great Britain and, subsequently, Canada, that made our northern neighbor a viable destination for runaways. The famous escapes of Henry "Box" Brown, Ellen and William Craft, and Harriet Tubman will probably be familiar to U.S. readers, as will the efforts of abolitionists such as John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison. But Gorrell's title supplies a piece of the Under- ground Railroad puzzle generally neglected in standard accounts-as the free States came under increasing pressure to enforce the Fugitive Slave Acts, Canada firmly refused to extradite runaways or cooperate in slaveholders' recovery of property: "To the runaway's question 'Where can I be safe?' there was at last an answer." Period illustrations, an index, and source notes are included. EB 206 * THE BULLETIN GOTTFRIED, TED Alan Turing: The Architect of the Computer Age. Watts, 1996 128p illus. with photographs (Impact Biographies) ISBN 0-531-11287-X $22.70 Ad Gr. 7-12 Alan Turing is a fascinating and enigmatic figure, and what with Masterpiece The- atre scheduled to present Breaking the Code, the dramatized story of his life, popu- lar interest in him will probably rise. Gottfried's biography examines the intellectual, the personal, and the political aspects of Turing's life, discussing Turing's achieve- ments as a wartime codebreaker and as a pioneer of computational theory as well as his homosexuality and his eventual prosecution and chemical castration for that then-illegal offense. This biography makes good use of sources, especially Alan Hodges' pivotal, informative, and extremely dense monograph, to present Turing's life at a YA-accessible level; its suggestion that the enforced chemical treatment was directly responsible for Turing's suicide seems to be an original, if question- able, assertion. Turing's personality was apparently a difficult one to convey and the mathematics can be dizzying for the lay reader, but the text does a good job with the small space it has. Though it does not, as jacket copy suggests, go on to argue that his achievements have been obscured as a result of anti-gay prejudice, it does explain the post-Turing revolutions in computers and in gay and lesbian civil rights. Endnotes, a list of further resources (including web sites), and an index are included. DS GRAHAM, HARRIET A Boy and His Bear. McElderry, 1996 196p ISBN 0-689-80943-3 $16.00 Ad Gr. 6-9 On a chance errand to the bear pits, Dickon, a tanner's apprentice in Elizabethan England, finds he has a gift for communicating with the animals, one young bear in particular. With the Master of the Bear Garden's blessing, he spends his off hours training the cub and they bond further. Soon, however, Dickon's talent incurs enmity and suspicion among the locals and, after several attempts on his life, he and the cub are forced to flee to France with the aid of friends. There's an old-fashioned flavor to the story, with romanticism apparent in Dickon's relation- ship with the cub, the occasional interpolations of the bear's point of view, and the portrayal of the traveling circus folk with whom Dickon throws in his lot; the story also wanders around a bit when Dickon and his ursine friend do the same. It's an appealingly different approach to the animal-story genre, however, and Dickon's trusting relationship with the bear will please many young readers, who will un- derstand the rightness of Dickon's final decision to set his friend free. DS GRAY, LIBBA MOORE Little Lil and the Swing-Singing Sax; illus. by Lisa Cohen. Simon, 1996 32p ISBN 0-689-80681-7 $16.00 R 5-8 yrs When Mama Big Lil gets sick, Uncle Sudi Man pawns his saxophone to get the medicine she needs, and "hallelujah-amen the medicine helped a bit. Mama Big Lil got a little better but the laughter stayed away while the horn gathered dust on a dingy cluttered shelf." Little Lil knows that Uncle Sudi Man's saxophone is the only thing that will make Mama Big Lil altogether well, so she draws a picture to take to the pawn shop to trade for the horn. This family story, based on the author's memories of a jazz-loving uncle, is set during the Christmas season but deserves to be told all year round. Gray's text has the cadence of an oral tale, the musical narrative combining with Cohen's vigorous visual images in a joyful paean to making the people we love happy. Cohen's strongly geometric acrylic paint- FEBRUARY 1997 * 207 ings, with thick black outlines like coloring-book art, have a vitality and jump suitable to this rhythmic story. The restoration of Uncle Sudi Man's sax results in a spontaneous dance on their apartment rooftop, as the family listens to Uncle Sudi Man's "angel-sweet, blue-curling notes rising like a prayer above the white December clouds." JMD GREGORY, VALISKA When Stories Fell Like Shooting Stars; illus. by Stefano Vitale. Simon, 1996 40p ISBN 0-689-80012-6 $16.00 Ad 6-9 yrs "Two stories fell like shooting stars-one told of Fox, one told of Bear," and it is up to the reader to decide which of these original stories is true. When Fox discov- ers the sun, "red as hearts and yellow as gold, trembling" in the branches of a tree, a succession of animals wrestles for control over night, day, and shadows, ulti- mately destroying the earth. The storyteller Bear, however, protects the moon that falls to the earth; he recruits Spider and Hawk to carry the moon home and gives them the strength to succeed by telling them the "old stories." While the emphasis on Bear's solemn wisdom ("The moon is ours to tend, but not to own") slows this story's pace a bit, Fox's story strides forth with vivid metaphors and the cumula- tion of conflict to its fiery climax. Vitale's two-dimensional figures scatter in a Paul Klee-like landscape that is anything but flat: the palette paints a sharp con- trast between dark and light, the grain of the painted wood boards offer contour and texture. Some readers may find the stories provocative, but others may be put off by the rambling text and preachy subtext. AEB GRIFFIN, ADELE Rainy Season. Houghton, 1996 200p ISBN 0-395-81181-3 $14.95 R Gr. 6-8 Unlike his twelve-year-old sister Lane, who is easily pushed into an anxiety attack at the slightest possibility of danger, younger brother Charlie has no concept of risk or consequences. The relationship between Lane and Charlie forms the heart of the novel, as Lane fights Charlie, hates him, and ultimately saves him. The palpable tension between the two results in an insidious undercurrent of unex- plained danger, as Griffin builds suspense with small indications that things aren't quite right. The revelation that their oldest sister Emily was recently killed in a car accident involving the whole family places Charlie's risk-taking and Lane's safety neurosis in perspective as part of the family's pathological grief-their mother has excised Emily from all the family photos and will not acknowledge her existence. It is only when Lane and Charlie break the taboo of speaking about their sister that the tension is relieved, and the image of Lane opening a box of photographs and reclaiming the older sister she loves is one that will remain with readers long after the book is closed. Set on an army base in the Panama Canal Zone during No- vember, 1977, the story offers a strongly evoked but never intrusive milieu, the politics present but always in the background. JMD HAN, OKI S., ad. Kongi and Potgi: A Cinderella Story from Korea; ad. by Oki S. Han and Stephanie Haboush Plunkett; illus. by Oki S. Han. Dial, 1996 32p Library ed. ISBN 0-8037-1572-2 $14.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-8037-1571-4 $14.99 R 5-8 yrs Less ornate in graphic tone than Ruth Heller's illustrations for Shirley Climo's The Korean Cinderella, this picture book nevertheless features a similarly sharp contrast 208 * THE BULLETIN of colors and a closely related textual variant, which Han's jacket copy attributes to her father's telling. Even young listeners will be able to compare the heroine's animal helpers-an ox, a frog, and some sparrows-with those in western variants familiar from Perrault, the Grimms, or even Disney. Of course, the tired old father, the jealous stepmother/stepsister, the gallant prince, and the "jewellike slip- per" are all recognizable, as are the radiant angels that parallel the dead mother or godmother of European sources. Against detailed background scenes of tradi- tional village life, Han's figures are posed, even occasionally stiff, but the composi- tions are fluid and the patterning vivid. In both school and public libraries, this will enrich collections that emphasize folklore to connect with ethnically diverse populations. BH HERRON, CAROLIVIA Nappy Hair; illus. by Joe Cepeda. Knopf, 1997 [32p] Library ed. ISBN 0-679-97937-9 $18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 0-679-87937-4 $17.00 Reviewed from galleys R* 4-8 yrs At a family picnic, Uncle Mordecai expounds upon the nappy nature of young Brenda's hair, comparing the combing of it to "scrunching through the New Mexico desert in brogans in the heat of summer." When he is chided for his observations he expands upon them in an expository conceit that includes nappy hair for Brenda as part of God's great plan. The resulting call-and-response is glorious: "And the Lord./ Well. / The Lord in heaven./ What you say./ The Lord who brought the Israelites out of Egypt./ Yes, he did./ He looked down on this cute little brown baby girl./ He looked at her./ He looked at her and he say 'Well done.'/ Yep./ He say 'I got me one.'/ That's what he said./ 'One nap of her hair is the only perfect circle in nature.'" Cepeda's bright palette serves him well in this exuberant story, distin- guishing each expressive family member by style or dress: Uncle Mordecai, in a dark blue shirt, red bow tie and yellow pants, sits on a sky-blue porch with a pink railing. Brenda herself energetically races through the pages in a neon-green dress with a yellow ruffle and black and white high tops, joyfully heading for her obvi- ously sublime destiny. Sitting around a picnic table set on fresh green grass, Brenda's family celebrates their togetherness-and her hair. JMD HICKOX, REBECCA Zorro and Quwi: Tales ofa Trickster Guinea Pig; illus. by Kim Howard. Doubleday, 1997 32p ISBN 0-385-32122-8 $14.95 R 4-7 yrs In this retelling of a Peruvian trickster tale an irresistibly clever guinea pig, Quwi, subs for the more traditional mouse as the perfect wily protagonist. From the first double-page spread, Quwi (whose name in Peru, according to an appended author's note, is the Quechua word for guinea pig) is depicted as a winsome rodent of incomparably cagey competence. The object of Quwi's clever tricks is Zorro, the always hungry fox, who exults, "Here you are, trapped and ready to be my break- fast," whereupon Quwi sighs, "I would be happy to be your breakfast, for some- thing far worse is about to happen." Something far worse does happen, but always to Zorro, compliments of Quwi's ingenious quick-on-his-paws thinking. Vibrantly hued paintings with unusual angles serve as a robust backdrop to the fiery red, triangular proportions of the fox and the furry plumpness of the piebald Quwi. Our toothy hero leads the greedy fox into one ridiculous predicament after the other, and the hilarious slapstick finale when the unfortunate fox, a pot stuck on FEBRUARY 1997 * 209 his head, mistakes the sleeping farmer's head for a rock, is sure to bring the house down. PM HOBAN, RUSSELL The Trokeville Way. Knopf, 1996 118p Library ed. ISBN 0-679-98148-9 $18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 0-679-88148-4 $17.00 M Gr. 6-9 Nick Hartley, almost thirteen years old, loses a fight with bully Harry Buncher, buys a jigsawed watercolor painting from a washed-up magician named Moe Nagic, and finds himself in a surreal fantasy world where there are no easy answers. The watercolor painting acts as entryway into a dreamscape wherein Nick encounters other dreamers and seekers including Cynthia, his real-life crush; Zelda, Moe Nagic's lost love; and his own parents. Artless wordplay abounds: the bridge in the paint- ing is "the brudge" (to rhyme with grudge), Nick and the other dreamscapers are lost in the little wood/would, and the jigsaw puzzle is a juzzle. Nick's quest through the dreamscape is apparently his journey into male adulthood, and it is marked by his finally beating up Harry Buncher, his dating Harry's sister, and his first overt sexual response-to Cynthia's mother, who turns out to be Zelda, Moe's lost love: "Wow! Cynthia's mother, the Zelda who'd kissed me in the little would! I was having quite a rich fantasy life in those moments and I could feel in my underpants that Mrs. Jeffreys had well and truly dragged me across the threshold of puberty." This unwieldy combination of elements never gels into an involving storyline. Any sense of pacing is tossed out the window very early on, and the rambling plot never recovers from the absence of momentum. JMD HORWITZ, MARGOT F. A Female Focus: Great Women Photographers. Watts, 1996 127p illus. with photographs (Women Then, Women Now) ISBN 0-531-11302-7 $22.70 Ad Gr. 7-12 Women have been involved in photography from the very beginning, and Horwitz chronicles a multitude of notable artists in the medium. Chapters group photog- raphers (all American) chronologically and thematically, discussing household names (Dorothea Lange, Imogen Cunningham, Diane Arbus, Margaret Bourke-White) and a plethora of lesser-known but significant artists and professionals. The book draws generously on the photographers' own words, and an insert includes sample photographs from many of the subjects. There's too much in a short space, how- ever, and the effect is that of rushing from one annotation to another rather than a cohesive exploration of photographic history; the cursory descriptions of personal lives rarely inform the artistic accounts as they were seemingly intended. Sylvia Wolfs Focus: Five Women Photographers (BCCB 11/94) has more impact, but serious young photographers will appreciate the breadth of Horwitz' account. Endnotes, a bibliography, and an index are included. DS HOWE, JOHN, ad. The Knight with the Lion: The Story of Yvain; ad. and illus. by John Howe. Little, 1996 32p ISBN 0-316-37583-7 $15.95 R Gr. 4-6 This retelling of a twelfth-century romance relates the story of Yvain, "the bravest and most gentle knight of all King Arthur's court." Having conquered the Black Knight, Yvain is captured by the lady Ludine but, assisted by her handmaiden Lunete, succeeds in persuading Ludine to marry him. In a succession of lushly illustrated events, he breaks a vow, loses his wife, loses his mind, regains his reason, 210 * THE BULLETIN acquires a lion companion, saves several damsels in distress, and wins the day- and his wife-once again. Phew. There's a lot going on here, all illustrated in Howe's appropriately romantic, full-page watercolors filled with golden-age im- ages of knights and ladies, armor and horses, dragons and lions. Howe does a creditable job of making this somewhat obscure, complexly plotted romance ac- cessible to younger readers. When they come looking for adventure stories about questing knights, reach for this one. A source note gives information on medieval writer Chretien de Troyes and his contribution to Arthurian romance literature. JMD JAMES, MARY Shoebag Returns. Scholastic, 1996 144p ISBN 0-590-48711-6 $15.95 Ad Gr. 5-7 The redoubtable roach of earlier fame (Shoebag, BCCB 3/90) now resides at Miss Rattray's School for Girls, a high-toned establishment that has just admitted its first male student, Stanley, the spoiled son of an alum. Stanley's only shot at friendship is with fellow outsider Josephine Jiminez, who acts out her social frus- trations by smashing her dolls against the wall; together they thumb their noses at the school socialites by forming their own club, the Butters, to rival the hoity-toity Betters. What little plot there is revolves around Stanley and Josephine; Shoebag is largely relegated to popping in and out of the students' t-shirts during his hu- man transformations, bringing scraps to his family (now living in the cook's Macintosh computer), and of course, escaping from the clutches of a spider with the help of ex-roach/boy, Gregor Samsa. Pacing is sluggish, tension is slight, and roach jokes are showing signs of wear, but James' deadpan humor retains some of the sparkle of the original Shoebag. "'I was not a club type, anyway,' said Stanley's father. 'I was not a snob until I married your mother."' EB JOHNSTON, ANDREA Girls Speak Out: Finding Your True Self Scholastic, 1997 [240p] ISBN 0-590-89795-0 $17.95 Reviewed from galleys M Gr. 5-9 The Girls Speak Out programs have met across the country and enabled a wide variety of girls and women to meet together to examine the pressures and possibili- ties of womanhood. Andrea Johnston, one of the founders of the program, at- tempts here to put its effects into literary form by describing the ideology and process of the sessions and interpolating them with anecdotes and writings from selected Girls Speak Out groups. The result, unfortunately, is a disjointed muddle: the chapters could have been reversed with little alteration to the impact, which means it's not clear what each activity is supposed to achieve or how it fits into the overall Girls Speak Out purpose. The writings from program participants are well-meaning and earnest but authentically amateurish; a small sampling would have been more effective than the two twenty-five page collections, the length of which has the unfortunate effect of diminishing the individual voices' clarity and weight. Literary excerpts (from books for youth as well as for adults) similarly diffuse the focus instead of providing specific inspirations. The writing overall is energetic but cliched and rambling, with enthusiasm often deteriorating into ro- manticism. There are occasional glimpses beyond into what could be a fascinating experience, but the book ultimately fails to convey the program's merits. DS FEBRUARY 1997 * 211 JONES, K. MAURICE Spike Lee and the African American Filmmakers: A Choice of Colors. Millbrook, 1996 160p illus. with photographs ISBN 1-56294-518-1 $16.90 R Gr. 8-12 Chronicling directors ranging from Oscar Micheaux in the 1920s to John Single- ton in the 1990s, this overview ofAfrican-American filmmakers ultimately focuses on the notable Spike Lee. The author does an admirable job of placing each direc- tor within the context of American society at his or her time: he points out the irony that the success of "coon and mammy" roles in white films led directly to segregated "race" films and the lucrative blaxploitation movies. Building on that cinematic history, today's acclaimed African-American directors are making some of the best films in the world. Despite occasional hyperbole (is Lee really on a mission from God, as the author asserts, or is he just out to do the right thing?) and his tendency to paint with a broad brush ("Whites in positions of authority tend to consider blacks like Lee 'difficult"'), Jones has done a commendable job distilling a great deal of cinematic history into accessible prose. A little more attention to detail, less repetitious language, and a little less sermonizing could have improved the end product. This is still a handy resource for high-school report writers or any kid captured by the glow of the silver screen. Extensive documentation in- cludes endnotes, film chronologies, bibliography, and an index. SSV KEILLOR, GARRISON The Sandy Bottom Orchestra; by Garrison Keillor and Jenny Lind Nilsson. Hyperion, 1996 263p Library ed. ISBN 0-7868-2145-0 $14.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-7868-0173-5 $14.95 R Gr. 6-9 Set apart from the "normal" kids in school by her musical talent (she is a gifted violinist), fourteen-year-old Rachel views her life through intelligent if somewhat desperate eyes, seeing "a mother who corrects everyone's grammar and a father who stands in the den conducting La Boheme, in a town where nothing ever hap- pens." The action of the novel revolves around Rachel playing in the Dairyland Symphony Orchestra, blissfully indulging in her first crush (reciprocated), and figuring out a way to deal with her overpowering yet loving mother. While a strong sense of nostalgic innocence permeates the text, the point of view is always true to Rachel's somewhat wistful tone of voice, and her emotional responses have an adolescent clarity that is positively heartrending. Characterizations are some- times less than three-dimensional (Rachel's music teacher is a flamboyant Italian maestro, and Mayor "Broadbutt" is a bit too much the strip-mall entrepreneur), but such characters are nonetheless humorously sketched and are offset by such gems as the individually drawn members of the orchestra, a stage mother from hell and her protege son, Rachel's parents, and the gently rendered Rachel. The end- ing is a happy combination of State Fair, Pollyana, and Seventeenth Summer. "They wandered around the crowd-Mother was a big hit, Daddy was happy, and she was holding hands with a sweet boy. Rachel thought she had never felt quite so happy." Me neither. JMD KIMMEL, ERIC A., ad. The Tale ofAli Baba and the Forty Thieves: A Story from the Arabian Nights; illus. by Will Hillenbrand. Holiday House, 1996 32p ISBN 0-8234-1258-X $15.95 R Gr. 3-5 The text here is a breezily told version of the well-known tale wherein poor wood- cutter Ali Baba gains the booty of thieves and defeats their plans of vengeance with 212 * THE BULLETIN the help of the slave Marghana. More of an illustrated short story than a picture book, this version is less condensed than Walter McVitty's Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (BCCB 12/89), but the pacing is brisk and the adventure, as always, ap- pealing. Hillenbrand's illustrations are a complete contrast to the distant Eastern formality of Margaret Early's art for McVitty's adaptation. His mixed-media art relies on rich contrasting hues just this side of gaudy, and the figures are humorous enough to keep the violence fantastical; the levity, however, never deteriorates into cartooning, and there's depth and texture in the mottled planes of color as well as an appropriate menace underlying the bright exoticism of the images. There are a lot of kids who really don't know where "Open, Sesame" came from; this is allur- ing enough and unbabyish enough that they'll enjoy reading to find out. DS KRENSKY, STEPHEN Lionel and His Friends; illus. by Susanna Natti. Dial, 1996 48p (Dial Easy-to-Read) Library ed. ISBN 0-8037-1751-2 $12.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-8037-1750-4 $12.99 R Gr. 2-4 In four short chapters, Lionel (hero of five previous books by the same collaborat- ing team) copes with a best friend getting a bad case of politeness, a jelly and peanut butter sandwich instead of peanut butter and jelly, an older sister with plans to send him to the moon, and a broken window resulting from a wild base- ball. The text is simple but not simplistic, with the concerns of the young protago- nist and the secondary characters treated gently and without condescension. The sense of humor is consistent throughout Krensky's text, and it is nicely reflected in Natti's watercolor and pencil illustrations, which depict a facially expressive, cul- turally inclusive group of school children. JMD LEWIS, J. PATRICK The Boat ofMany Rooms: The Story ofNoah in Verse; illus. by Reg Cartwright. Atheneum, 1997 [32p] ISBN 0-689-80118-1 $16.00 Reviewed from galleys M 3-5 yrs What could be more tedious than forty days and nights of rain? One answer is Lewis' collection of poems relating the Genesis tale of Noah and his animal-filled ark. Hackneyed language ("God, raging in His heaven,/ Surveyed the wretched earth/ And wept to see humanity/ To which He'd given birth"), awkward syntax ("Though Noah's heart was humble,/ He who was without blame/ Knew all along to right the wrong/ That God might call his name"), and sometimes silly word choice ("Hark!" the Breath of Heaven thundered,/ "This is my covenant with you,/ With all the children of your children,/ And with the universal zoo") make the individual poems ineffective at conveying either images or emotions. Taken as a whole, the constant shifting of tone between Biblical grandeur ("Then God took thought for Noah,/ And stilled His heavenly cup"), attempted profundity ("Let the lowly slug pearl the footpaths of Asia Minor"), and light humor ("All animals aboard!" cried Noah./ "From pachyderms to protozoa!") prevents the collection from achieving any sort of cohesion. Each double-page spread features one un- titled poem and one illustration. Cartwright's oil paintings resemble collage, as if images have been cut from paper and then physically laid on top of one another, giving each illustration a simultaneous depth and flatness. Forms are simple, well- defined, and generally cheerful. Although this book could be used to teach chil- dren the basic elements of the traditional Bible story, it certainly won't rev up religious instruction or bring excitement to Sunday school. LM FEBRUARY 1997 * 213 LONDON, JONATHAN What Newt Could Do for Turtle; illus. by Louise Voce. Candlewick, 1996 [33p] ISBN 1-56402-259-5 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys M 3-6 yrs "A red-spotted newt crawled out from his winter bed in the mud. 'Help!' cried Newt. 'I'm stuck!"' Newt is then rescued from his muddy predicament in this predictable, episodic picture book that follows Newt and Turtle's friendship through the seasons. As platitudes drip from page to page ("'That's what friends are for,' said Turtle"), a rock-sitting Newt ruminates on the repeated refrain: "What can I do for Turtle?" The seasons pass and Turtle continues his boy-scout (make that reptile-scout) heroics, rescuing Newt from the likes of a cottonmouth snake and an alligator. So when Newt finally gets the chance to upend his friend who has been "attacked" by a bobcat, he does it because, as we all too well know, "that's what friends are for!" (What we don't know is why Newt's spots keep turning darker - going from red to almost purple during the course of the story.) The illustrations do provide splashes of brilliant, seasonal color with lots of double- page spreads, but if you're looking for examples of loyal friendship you might be happier revisiting Frog and Toad. PM MCCLINTOCK, BARBARA The Fantastic Drawings ofDanielle; written and illus. by Barbara McClintock. Houghton, 1996 32p ISBN 0-395-73980-2 $15.95 R 5-8 yrs While Danielle's bearded and bespectacled father photographs wintery street scenes in turn-of-the-century Paris, fantastic drawings snake from Danielle's drawing pad like the genie from Aladdin's lamp. Bare-branched trees bloom with enormous cabbage roses; promenading Parisians garbed in browns and grays become finely dressed birds or giraffes out walking their pet goldfish and sporting elaborate mil- linery. Even though Papa disapproves of her far-from-realistic drawings, Danielle can't stop herself from embellishing flowers with human features or sketching a wealthy goat who will buy Papa's pictures and rescue them from poverty. When Papa falls ill and their money runs out, Danielle ventures out with Papa's camera but finds little success. Fortunately, she meets a kindred spirit and employer in Madame Beton, an artist whose paintings are as fanciful as Danielle's, and all ends happily ever after with pastries all around. Paris emerges through architectural details and overhead angles. Full-page spreads are balanced with tiny vignettes, and the tone consistently strikes a balance between Papa's seriousness and Danielle's whimsy. While the sparse text is sometimes self-conscious and perhaps unneces- sary, it is appropriate to the rags-to-riches, sickness-to-health story. Budding non- conformists will take heart. Use with Diane Goode's Mama's Perfect Present (BCCB 12/96) for a contrasting presentation of place and of the value of art. AEB MCDONALD, JOYCE Comfort Creek. Delacorte, 1996 194p ISBN 0-385-32232-1 $15.95 Ad Gr. 5-7 Quinella Ellerbee has lost her mother to the traveling music circuit and her sixth- grade-newspaper editorship to a prissy archrival, and she's mad. She's mainly mad at her father for making them move their old house to a swamp with no plumbing or electricity. But underneath, she's mad at him for forbidding them to talk about her mother, and, as she finally discovers at the end of the novel, she's furious at her mother for leaving. There are lots of subplots: Pa-Daddy has lost his job with a 214 * THE BULLETIN rapacious mining company, another company threatens to strip-mine the swamp and Quin's grandparents' orchards, Quin fights with her two sisters and befriends a boy who teaches her how to make money off cypress-knee lamps, Pa-Daddy has been hiding Mom's letters, a fight develops between the mining men and the more environmentally aware farm folk. The story gets crowded, meandering sometimes into overexplanation and into a tidy ending when Pa-Daddy, who is penniless, turns out to have bought Quin's favorite quilt, which was sold at a fund-raising fair to hire a lawyer for the cause he hates. There is a world built here, though, and a narrator who acts out her negative emotions in realistic outbursts. BH MATAS, CAROL More Minds; by Carol Matas and Perry Nodelman. Simon, 1996 188p ISBN 0-689-80388-5 $16.00 Ad Gr. 5-8 After rescuing the Gragians from the existential mind manipulation of the dictator Hevak in Of Two Minds, Princess Lenora of Gepeth is not content to sit quietly at home contemplating her trousseau. When a giant invades the north, headstrong Lenora sneaks off to imagine him out of existence. However, she soon discovers that the Balance, which sets limits to the Gepethians' ability to turn their imaginings into reality, has been disrupted and imagination/reality becomes seriously out of control. Lenora finds herself battling chaos on behalf of the order she had rebelled against before. The story is hampered by excessively long scenes, and it's stretched out by super-explanatory dialogue, surreal descriptions of Balance-less life, and relentless bickering. Fiance Prince Coren is the only character who betrays any emotional depth, reacting to illogical events with sensitivity and occasional spirit, while Lenora turns anger, elation, and impatience on and off like hot and cold water faucets. Young readers who appreciate enterprising princesses may enjoy Lenora, who certainly knows how to get what she wants. AEB MAYO, MARGARET, ad. When the World Was Young: Creation and Pourquoi Tales; illus. by Louise Brierley. Simon, 1996 77p ISBN 0-689-80867-4 $19.95 R Gr. 4-8 Ten pourquoi stories from a variety of cultures are elegantly retold and illustrated in this attractively designed collection. Mayo retells "The Girl Who Did Some Baking," about why people have different colored skins, "The Magic Millstones," a variant of "Why the Sea is Salt," "The Mud on Turtle's Back," about the origin of solid earth, and seven other tales from American Indian, Polynesian, and Cen- tral American cultures, among others. Brierley's watercolors, while not culturally specific, are effective, her oversized characters quite suitably placed in mythic sur- roundings accentuated by an emphasis on light and dark tones and warm and cold colors. The retellings are concise and cogent, and Mayo's notes are extensive, giving available print sources and variants. This a good resource for storytellers and librarians as well as an accessible, engaging title for young readers. JMD MEDEARIS, ANGELA SHELF Haunts: Five Hair-Raising Tales; illus. by Trina Schart Hyman. Holiday House, 1996 37p ISBN 0-8234-1280-6 $15.95 R Gr. 4-8 These five ghost tales won't be on your shelves long, as they are accessibly short, gleefully scary, and blessed with terrifically horrific cover and interior art by Trina FEBRUARY 1997 * 215 Schart Hyman. Each tale opens with the illustration of a glowing-eyed skull, and the haunted house atmosphere is enhanced by full-page pen and ink drawings. An author's note states that the tales have been retold from folklore or from imagina- tion, but no specific sources are given. From the opening tale of "The Fiddler Man," in which a ghost dog helps a girl save her brother from a sinister musician, to a ragtime variant of "Aaron Kelly's Bones," in which a dead husband comes back for one last dance with his faithless wife ("Last Dance at the Dew Drop Inn"), to the concluding retelling of "Wait Till Martin Comes" ("Waiting for Mr. Chester"), Medearis has a grand old ghostly time. The kids will, too. JMD MELTZER, MILTON Weapons 6- Warfare: From the Stone Age to the Space Age; illus. by Sergio Martinez. HarperCollins, 1996 85p Library ed. ISBN 0-06-024876-9 $16.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-024875-0 $16.95 R Gr. 4-6 Longbows and missiles and tanks, oh my! Meltzer plunges right into his macabre subject in this compendium of all the ways throughout history that folks have tried to kill each other. Beginning with the wooden club and ending with thermo- nuclear bombs, readers are dished up juicy descriptions and justifications of weap- onry and strategy, topped off with a sprinkling of history. The short entries, which average little more than a page each, make it easy to check on that favorite weapon while dodging those less intriguing. Meltzer ultimately makes no attempt to hide his contempt of warfare ("mad folly"), but this is a book for which curious would- be warriors would gladly shelve their Nintendo controls-at least for a while. Martinez's black-and-white drawings illuminate the narration and contribute to its drama (a thumbnail illustration of a handgun and a kid's sneaker, while simple, drives home a point about youthful fatalities). A bibliography, index, and an au- thor biography are included. SSV MILLER, DEBBIE S. Disappearing Lake: Nature's Magic in Denali National Park; illus. by Jon Van Zyle. Walker, 1997 [33p] Library ed. ISBN 0-8027-8475-5 $16.85 Trade ed. ISBN 0-8027-8474-7 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys Ad 5-8 yrs Miller takes her audience on a tour of the Alaskan vernal lake which swells each spring with the melted snow running off the mountains, and then evaporates in the summer heat. As the lake transforms, it becomes host and home to a variety of permanent and transient wildlife residents, from moose and caribou to mosqui- toes and fairy shrimp. Miller describes their comings and goings and the lake's metamorphosis in smooth, often poetic prose: "Creeks that bubbled and sang their way to the lake are now bright green paths specked with flowers and wild chives." Van Zyle's double-page paintings are a bit stiff, but they highlight the attention-grabbing animals while carefully detailing their changing habitat. This title, however, concentrates exclusively on the spring and summer states of the lake, and listeners receive little information on what happens to components of this ecosystem during the long span between freeze and thaw. Concluding "Field Notes" supply this information for some species, but without the accompanying visuals, the data are comparatively dry. Armchair naturalists will enjoy the view nonetheless, and science teachers may find this an inviting introduction to an ecol- ogy unit. EB 216 * THE BULLETIN Moss, CYNTHIA LittleBigEars: The Story ofEly; illus. with photographs by Martyn Colbeck. Simon, 1997 [34p] ISBN 0-689-80031-2 $17.00 Reviewed from galleys Ad 5-9 yrs Ely, a young bull calf, and his elephant family live in Kenya in a protected wildlife park called Amboseli. He was born with a near-fatal handicap-he was unable to stand or walk, hence unable to suckle or seek shade. The baby elephant triumphs, ultimately, through tremendous determination and with the obvious help of his mother. Moss has worked in elephant conservation for almost thirty years in Af- rica and has collaborated with Colbeck on two documentaries, and she clearly knows her stuff. While it's unclear whether or not this story is derived from the documentaries, it'hardly matters-the pictures and text can confidently stand alone. Colbeck's photos of Ely from birth through his first year offer a fascinating glimpse into elephant development and socialization-we see him learning to eat grasses and drink water, walk without tripping over his trunk, in general just mastering survival in an unforgiving environment. Moss's narration is affectionate if a bit anthropomorphic, yet still matter-of-fact enough to successfully avoid cutesiness. This is sure to be a crowd-pleaser of elephantine proportions. SSV MYERs, ANNA Spotting the Leopard. Walker, 1996 146p ISBN 0-8027-8459-3 $15.95 R Gr. 5-8 In this sequel to Red-Dirt Jessie (BCCB 10/92), Jessie's younger brother H.J. faces two major problems. The first is how to help Jessie realize her dream of going to college and becoming a veterinarian at a time when their father can barely keep the family going with his earnings from a WPA job. The second is how to save an escaped leopard-which H.J. once saw pacing miserably in a nearby zoo-from getting shot in the fields where it's hiding nearby. A subplot fits into the overall theme of reaching for dreams when H.J.'s uncle risks and loses his new motel in an investment scam. None of this feels crowded because Myers drives the dramatic action with believable characters, natural dialogue, and a consistently developed first-person narrative. The climax is genuinely sad and certainly more convincing than the denouement, which is neatly manipulated and entirely too cheerful. On the other hand, readers who have experienced the novel's tone of sustained con- cern will be relieved to see at least part of the trapped-animal/human dilemma resolved. BH MYERS, WALTER DEAN Slam! Scholastic, 1996 [240p] ISBN 0-590-48667-5 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 A junior in high school, Gregory "Slam" Harris has a game, at least on the basket- ball court. Off the court, he's not so sure-his grandmother is dying, his mother thinks he needs a role model in a three-piece suit, and he and his best friend Ice (who also has a game and NBA dreams) seem to be drifting apart. Myers has a neat trick of making the reader see the world through Slam's streetwise, life-naive eyes as he observes his close-knit family, his girlfriend Mtisha, and Harlem's 125th Street. Reminiscent of the narrative voice in June Jordan's His Own Where (BCCB 12/71), Slam's language is rhythmic and slangy, uncontrived and immediate. The realization that Ice is "in the life," dealing crack and possibly other drugs, causes Slam to focus with even more intensity on his own future: "Maybe if I could get FEBRUARY 1997 * 217 my game right, all my game, on and off the court, I would get over." The conclu- sion is hopeful, and the basketball scenes are tough. JMD NAIDOO, BEVERLEY No Turning Back: A Novel ofSouth Africa. HarperCollins, 1997 [160p] Library ed. ISBN 0-06-027506-5 $14.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-027505-7 $14.95 Reviewed from galleys M Gr. 6-9 Sipho leaves his impoverished mother and abusive stepfather in their township shanty and flees to the Hillbrow district of Johannesburg where, he has heard, children can survive on the streets. Promptly accepted into a gang of malunde (street children), he learns how to push supermarket carts and panhandle for spare change. On the heels of a raid of the gang's outdoor digs, Sipho finds shelter in a shop entrance, is befriended by the owner's daughter, and takes up temporary residence with her well-to-do family. Accused of stealing, he takes to the streets again but eventually joins a gang friend at the Themba Shelter, a refuge and school for malunde. Naidoo shepherds her hero through his trials like a literary guardian angel, never quite allowing any threat (e.g., police raids) to become too dire or any temptation (e.g., glue sniffing) to become too strong. Readers will surely sense, however, that Sipho's struggles have been toned down for middle-grade consump- tion and that street kids are unlikely to end up happily singing "Forget about the past/ and build a new nation" at a Peace Day rally. EB NAPOLI, DONNA Jo On Guard. Dutton, 1997 [160p] ISBN 0-525-45759-3 $14.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 3-5 Fourth-grader Mikey (from When the Water Closes Over My Head, BCCB 9/94) is back, and he's out for a medal. To be more specific, an Olympic medal-which his teacher gives at the end of every week to a student for a particular skill, achieve- ment, or quality. Feeling middled-out as the second in his four-kid family, Mikey despairs of ever being special enough to merit a medal until he discovers the sport of fencing. He's hooked (though his mother's afraid he'll be stabbed) and begins lessons immediately, finding that the confidence and skill in his new m&tier is starting to pay off in noncombatant life as well. Napoli is excellent at depicting Mikey's general tendency towards uncertainty, his frustration at his lack of family stardom, and his passionate attachment to his new field (his dedicated obsession matches that of any young balletomane); the portrayal of Mikey's growing friend- ship with a new boy, Bill, is deftly drawn, evincing wisdom about the perplexities and pitfalls involved in youthful alliances. Especially with its lure of an offbeat and glamorous sport, this will please many young readers who understand the diffi- culty of parrying the world's thrusts. DS NAYLOR, PHYLLIS REYNOLDS Ducks Disappearing; illus. by Tony Maddox. Atheneum, 1997 [32p] ISBN 0-689-31902-9 $13.00 Reviewed from galleys Ad 4-7 yrs Young Willie and his mother enjoy a fine view of a mama duck and her ducklings from their table in the motel restaurant, but what begins as a simple counting activity turns into a disappearing act as ducklings begin to vanish. Willie is deter- 218 * THE BULLETIN mined to solve the mystery: "Something bad was happening to the ducklings, and it was happening very fast." As duck numbers quickly go from eleven to three, Willie seeks the help of the motel workers to no avail ("'Well, they're not in my vacuum cleaner,' the man said with a laugh, and went on with his work"). Washed- out watercolors lack energy and the pleasant, pudgy cast are cartoonish and stiff, but the double-paged spread of the hapless ducklings in their storm-drain prison ably captures their scary plight in drab browns and grays. Despite the bland art- work this is strong storytime drama, and young listeners will enjoy counting the decreasing population of ducklings, meeting various motel personnel, and applaud- ing Willie's detective work as the rescue of the chubby ducklings is successfully completed. PM NIRGIOTIS, NICHOLAS No More Dodos: How Zoos Help Endangered Wildlife; by Nicholas and Theodore Nirgiotis. Lerner, 1996 112p illus. with photographs ISBN 0-8225-2856-8 $17.96 R Gr. 6-12 This examination of human efforts to retain and restore populations of endan- gered species covers a lot of territory previously slighted in children's books. The Nirgiotises begin by describing the twentieth-century shift in zoo focus to the preservation of species and the resulting physical changes in captive animal habi- tats; they then go on to explain zoo breeding programs (including multizoo data- bases that help link up appropriate mates), the use of frozen semen and embryo transfer, and release programs. The text is a bit on the dense side, but it's packed with unusual information that links specific and involving anecdotes to general questions. Avoiding the easy oversimplification of many endangered-species books, it touches on a variety of areas-science, economics, politics-and thereby gives a greater sense of the context in which preservation issues are discussed and deci- sions made. Though clearly an advocate for its viewpoint, the book mentions the controversies over many of these procedures and policies. Additional information is provided in sidebars covering topics ranging from the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to basic genetic concepts of dominance and recessiveness (which unfortu- nately includes the debunked simple-dominance theory of eye color as its example); attractive color photographs often don't explain much, but they give the book's issues a visible focus and keep the pages appealing. Kids who really want to get beyond the harp-seals-are-cute level of ecological concern will find this invaluable. A list of conservation organizations, glossary, bibliography, and index are pro- vided. DS OPPENHEIM, SHULAMITH LEVEY, ad. And the Earth Trembled: The Creation ofAdam and Eve; illus. by Neil Waldman. Harcourt, 1996 32p ISBN 0-15-200025-9 $16.00 Ad Gr. 4-8 This retelling, based on the work of ninth-century Islamic scholar Abou-Djafar al Tabari, foreshadows the coming of the prophet Muhammud and portrays a God who engineers man's creation by force of his decree, against the reasoned protest of the angels and the outcry of Earth itself. A host of weighty theological proposi- tions will challenge listeners and readers well past picture-book age: God creates man to assuage his own loneliness; Soul's reluctance to enter Adam's body ("I am loathe to exchange the boundless universe for a narrow home") brings death into the world; Eve's first cognition is of her subservience ("My love for you already is FEBRUARY 1997 * 219 greater than yours for me. So have I been created"). While the text is graceful and provocative, Waldman's acrylic paintings-swirling pointillistic full-page compo- sitions-depict dumpy angelic and mortal figures afloat in a technicolor universe. This primal fantasyland is even more startling when contrasted with Oppenheim's companion piece Iblis (BCCB 4/94), in which Ed Young's illustrations emphasize the tension between darkness and light inherent in tales of man's creation and fall. EB PATENT, DOROTHY HINSHAW Prairies; illus. with photographs by William Mufioz. Holiday House, 1996 40p ISBN 0-8234-1277-6 $15.95 R Gr. 3-5 "No one thought about saving the prairie, which seemed empty and lonely," but this nonfiction survey about prairies could get some readers headed in that direc- tion. Organized into five chapters, a lively and concise text covers the American prairie, plant life, animal inhabitants and preservation/restoration efforts. The obvious strength of this photoessay is the inclusion of one or more striking photo- graphic images on every spread. Stark, lonely sweeps of prairie and sky are expertly captured and the prairie populace is well represented, whether it be the coneflower ("a common prairie wildflower") or the well-known prairie dog. Little-known facts ("the elk, grizzly bears, and wolves that we associate with forests also once lived on the prairie") mingle with more mundane ones ("a quarter of the earth's land is covered by grasses"). Patent's reproachful tone sometimes impedes the flow of information, but her mild indictments against those who made prairie restoration necessary may engender further discussion on what should and shouldn't be plowed and plundered. A map, glossary, and index are included. PM PLOURDE, LYNN Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud; illus. by John Schoenherr. Blue Sky/Scholastic, 1997 [32p] ISBN 0-590-56863-9 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys R 4-7 yrs When Mama, Papa, Sister, Brother, and Grandma all pile into the family Model T for a drive, they're in for a sloppy rendezvous with barnyard animals blocking the road, or "rud" (which flap copy suggests is the rural Maine pronunciation). "Pigs in the rud!" Grandma says. "Oh no. Won't do." And indeed it won't, so Brother gets out to shoo, squeal, rut (which apparently doesn't mean what it could), and reel, all to no effect as the blissfully aloof porkers continue to wallow in the rud. Not since Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car has an outing been so endearingly doomed, as Sister takes on the hens, Mama tackles the sheep, and Papa fights the bulls, all unsuccessfully. Finally, the family matriarch herself realizes that it's "000000- EEE! Up to me," and she causes a stampede out of the road with a hearty "TIME FOR SUP!" Grandma empties the rud all right, but she is knocked down into the muck herself to the barely contained delight of Brother and Sister. The spare text with its rhythmic refrain will have readaloud audiences chanting along in no time. Schoenherr's line and watercolor illustrations are generously laid out with ample white space. His animals are expressive without being cutesy or anthropomorphic (the oinkers are sublime although the bulls oddly resemble buffaloes). Grab this one for wallowingly great fun. SSV 220 * THE BULLETIN QUATTLEBAUM, MARY The Magic Squad and the Dog of Great Potential; illus. by Frank Remkiewicz. Delacorte, 1997 [112p] ISBN 0-385-32276-3 $14.95 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 3-5 In this sequel to Jazz, Pizzazz, and the Silver Threads (BCCB 2/96), ten-year-old Calvin has changed his focus from hamsters to dogs. He has convinced Alfred Ludlott, the eccentric poet who minds Calvin and his little brother after school, to provide a foster home for Train, a shelter dog, while Calvin teaches Train some manners in order to make him more attractive to a new home. The inevitable happens, and Calvin gets attached to the dog, but all ends happily when Train's new home doesn't want him after all and he becomes a permanent resident at Alfred's. The story here is extremely slight and rather unlikely (Quattlebaum ini- tially explains the work of animal shelters well, but few shelters would permit their charges to be handed around as cavalierly as is Train), with a rather contrived end and a predictable subplot about Calvin's involvement in his friend's magic show. There's a liveliness to the writing that keeps the book zipping along, however, and kids will enjoy the slapstick and Calvin's attachment to goofy Train. Reviewed from an unillustrated galley. DS RIGGIO, ANITA Secret Signs: Along the Underground Railroad; written and illus. by Anita Riggio. Boyds Mills, 1997 [32p] ISBN 1-56397-555-6 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys Ad 5-8 yrs As Luke and his mother prepare panoramic candy eggs for sale, Mama explains why she must pass along information regarding the new safe house for runaways. Luke, who is deaf, protests about the danger-a neighbor's barn has just been set ablaze by slavecatchers. As they discuss the importance of their real mission in town-to meet a contact at the general store-a bounty hunter bursts into their home and accuses them of aiding escaped slaves. Mama can only convince the man that they must get their wares to town; it is then up to Luke to use their candy eggs to pass the vital message to the "girl in the indigo shawl" who lingers among the other customers. The story is contrived and unlikely; Riggio's notes supply information about the American School for the Deaf and about the Underground Railroad but offer no evidence that sign language was used by the deaf to facilitate actual escapes. Young listeners who are unfamiliar with the Underground Rail- road will undoubtedly have a list of questions for the adult reader, but menace- laden and cliched oil paintings leave little doubt that the gaunt, sinister man in the slouch hat is a villain of the first order, and that wide-eyed poppet Luke and his mother are on the side of the angels. EB ROBERTS, TARA, ed. Am I the Last Virgin? African American Reflections on Sex andLove. Simon, 1997 [112p] Trade ed. ISBN 0-689-80449-0 $15.00 Paper ed. ISBN 0-689-81254-X $3.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 8-12 Eleven brief personal narratives by young African-American women reflect on early sexual experience. The editor explains her decision not to have sex before she's ready, despite social pressure. Two women, one attacked as a child and one as an adult, describe the effects of rape on their lives. A woman tells how sex with her FEBRUARY 1997 * 221 boyfriend strains her relationship with her mother; another woman adulates the African-American matriarchy in which she attained maturity; and others speak of being lesbian, of coping with unequal relationships, of getting an abortion, of getting AIDS, of recovering from incest, of reverence for a grandmother who en- couraged self-respect. The writing has some inexplicable moments ("For it is be- cause of the open sharing I've enjoyed with other women that I felt a cyst on my mother's ovary"), some strange stylistic twists ("It secretly thrilled each of them that their seed would be the first one I might carry"), and some downright gram- matical glitches ("As my best friend, I shared practically everything with her"). However, the book is informal, accessible, and candid, and it will probably circu- late nonstop, so get lots of paperbacks. An extensive concluding resource directory and short profiles of the contributors are included. BH RUSSELL, BARBARA TIMBERLAKE Blue Lightning. Viking, 1997 [128p] ISBN 0-670-87023-4 $13.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 5-7 Calvin Doogan's life changes when, out of a not-so-clear blue sky, he gets hit by lightning. He nearly dies in the hospital but recovers, and then finds out that the spirit of a boy who did die in that same hospital at the same time has come back home with him. Rory is serious trouble, making mischief on the Doogan family farm and even starting a fire in Calvin's bedroom, but his real bitterness is that Calvin will play on the county All-Star team-in Rory's position of pitcher. Russell lays the parallels and connections on awfully thickly (aside from the simultaneous fatality and the baseball position, Rory's and Calvin's fathers were best friends also competing for the same spot as pitcher), and some of the setups seem more dra- matically necessary than emotionally logical. The return-of-the-spirit theme is provocative, however, and Rory's genuine dangerousness (and the author's easy, unsentimental prose) keeps things from being too wistful. Readers who like some action-especially baseball action-in their ghost stories will want-to step up to the plate for this one. DS SCHAEFER, CAROLE LEXA The Squiggle; illus. by Pierr Morgan. Crown, 1996 32p Library ed. ISBN 0-517-70048-4 $18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 0-517-70047-6 $17.00 R 3-6 yrs Walking to the park with her class, a little girl finds a bright red ribbon curled on the sidewalk. She picks it up, and in swirling the red "squiggle" it becomes "Slither! swish! the dance of a big scaly dragon," or "Ripple shhh-the circle of a deep still pool," or "Ah-whoosh. The rise of the full fat moon." Each stretch of the child's imagination is illustrated with a physical change in the environment, as the pic- tures reflect that which she sees in her mind's eye a la Harold and the Purple Crayon. The tone of Morgan's marker and gouache illustrations is earthy, the dark greens and golds, subdued purples and blues supported by the slightly speckled back- ground paper. But the red squiggle, along with the child's imaginary pictures, is highlighted in a cleaner, brighter palette. Visual elements reflect a strong Chinese influence in the clothing of the children, the use of red as the color of emphasis, and the overall compositions. In the end, the little girl demonstrates the magical qualities of the ribbon to her classmates, and "Then, off we go to the park in our slither slish, push-a-pat, snap, tah-dah, crack crickle hiss, tug KA-BOOM! ripple 222 * THE BULLETIN shhh, ah-whoosh, squiggle of a line." This is a storytime treat that is sure to result in a squiggly line of preschoolers happily roaming through the stacks. JMD SCHAMI, RAFIK Fatima and the Dream Thiefi tr. by Anthea Bell; illus. by Els Cools and Oliver Streich. North-South, 1996 34p Library ed. ISBN 1-55858-654-7 $15.88 Trade ed. ISBN 1-55858-653-9 $15.95 R 6-9 yrs Hassam, the only son of a poor widow, is tricked out of his wages-and his dreams- by an unscrupulous employer. His twelve-year-old sister Fatima goes to the castle of the wicked lord seeking justice (and a bit of revenge) and, with quick wits and a great deal of nerve, succeeds in retrieving her brother's dreams, ten pieces of gold, and a variety of other worldly goods. Cools and Streitch's watercolor illustrations depict a quasi-Eastern Mediterranean setting, with characterizations reminiscent of Quentin Blake. The compositions are an unusual combination of off-kilter and dead-on perspectives that have an appropriately dreamlike yet energetic character. This tale is built along a traditional folkloric plotline (a young employee turns the tables on a dishonest employer by making him angry) but has the additional charms of a strong female protagonist, the fantastical element of dream-eating, and a hu- morous, engaging text. JMD SCHWARTZ, HOWARD, ad. The Wonder Child & Other Jewish Fairy Tales; ad. by Howard Schwartz and Barbara Rush; illus. by Stephen Fieser. HarperCollins, 1996 66p Library ed. ISBN 0-06-023518-7 $16.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-06-023517-9 $16.95 R Gr. 4-6 A young girl's soul resides in a jeweled necklace, a black cat saves a child lost in the forest, and some hard working tailors rid their hometown of a troublesome giant in three of these eight fairy tales from the Jewish tradition. Schwartz and Rush are fine collaborators, and their retellings are a strong combination of literary style and storytelling vernacular that works whether read silently or aloud. Notes indicate that the tales are from Egypt, Morocco, Libya, and Eastern Europe, and they give sources and commentary on the variants for each. The book's design is clean and attractive, with generous amounts of white space and clear text. Fieser's pastel illustrations consist of a visual vignette for each title heading and a full-page graphic for each story, and they portray the attractive good guys and gruesome bad guys expected from a satisfying fairy tale. A glossary of Hebrew terms is included. JMD SHALANT, PHYLLIS The Great Eye. Dutton, 1996 150p ISBN 0-525-45695-3 $15.99 Ad Gr. 5-7 Lucy's looking forward to spending the summer training Hobart, a young guide- dog hopeful, and she's happy that her sister, Anna, will be back from college. A pall is cast over things, however, by the absence of Lucy's father, who has with- drawn to Australia, and by Anna's acquisition of a boyfriend who seems to be in the way whenever Lucy wants some sisterly closeness. Lucy pours out her feelings about these unpleasant changes to her computer, nicknamed The Great Eye, by writing volumes of poetry, but that outlet may not be enough to support her when it becomes clear that Hobart's success isn't guaranteed and Lucy's father's depar- ture from the family isn't temporary. There are too many plot strands going on in the book, unfortunately, and Shalant never quite brings them together. Though the poetry is pretty, it slows down the pace and never really sounds like something FEBRUARY 1997 * 223 Lucy would have written. The book depicts Lucy's anxiety and her anger well, however, and kids will relate to her feverish concern both for the family that seems to be disappearing around her and for the dog who is having such difficulty mea- suring up to expectations. Kids drawn by the blend of family and dog story may find this a satisfying read. DS SNYDER, ZILPHA KEATLEY The Gypsy Game. Delacorte, 1997 [192p] ISBN 0-385-32266-6 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 5-7 It's been a long time since Snyder's The Egypt Game, but twenty years go by like nothing in the world of fiction. Now April, Melanie, Ken, Toby, and little Marshall are changing their backyard Egyptian world into a Gypsy camp and preparing to enter the world of the Rom (it turns out that Toby is part Gypsy, so he's intent on being the king). As a result of mysterious problems at home, Toby runs away, pleading with the former Egyptians not to give away his whereabouts, and they are forced into a moral quandary-do they notify Toby's worried father or do they keep faith with their friend? The focus is too diffuse, unfortunately, with subplots about the Gypsy game, the would-be Gypsies' discovery of the persecution of the real Gypsies, the plight of the local homeless, and the melodramatic reasons be- hind Toby's flight, resulting in a lot, especially a lot of social conscience, packed into a small space at the expense of the story's momentum. Snyder is still a good writer, however, and the multicultural and age-diverse gang of characters retains much of its original charm. This won't entirely satisfy fans of the first book, but they'll enjoy seeing what their fictional friends are getting up to. DS STANDIFORD, NATALIE Astronauts Are Sleeping; illus. by Allen Garns. Knopf, 1996 34p ISBN 0-679-86999-9 $16.00 Ad 4-7 yrs While three sleeping (and unrestrained) astronauts float about the cabin of their space shuttle, the author muses about the stuff of their dreams. We learn, after a quasi-poetic catalog of heavenly bodies, that instead of dreaming about "stars-/ Monstrous fires in blackest ink/ Clustered into galaxies" or "Volcanic Venus, siz- zling hot," the astronauts dream of life on Earth-more specifically, rosy-hued scenes from their childhood. The basic premise of the book--dreaming of the familiar, rather than of the unexplored-is comforting; however, the text, with its irregular and uneven rhyme and disjointed and arrhythmic sentences, is not. The tone is further disrupted by pastel illustrations that impose a Technicolor solar system upon a deep, blue space. As a result, objects (planets, space ship, astro- nauts) are toy-like, suggesting finity rather than infinity. Despite its nostalgic tendencies, the book has the potential for numerous kid-inspired variations on the theme. What do nomads, deep sea divers, or mountain climbers dream? AEB STEGER, WILL Over the Top of the World: Explorer Will Steger's Trek Across the Arctic; written by Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster. Scholastic, 1997 [64p] illus. with photographs ISBN 0-590-84860-7 $17.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-8 Even jaded "been-there, read-that" adventure fans are bound to shiver through Steger's journal-style narrative of his team's 1994 dog-sled and canoe-sled journey from Siberia; over the North Pole, and into Canada. From its disastrous start (at 224 * THE BULLETIN which point one highly trained team member quit after a brush with an icy death) the trek was marked by one perilous adventure after another. While the crew was unprepared for above-average temperatures which resulted in treacherously un- stable ice, wide leads ("rivers" of water between ice cracks), and overheated dogs, greater shocks were to come: "A wall of ice, 20 feet tall and as long as a football field, was moving our way as if being pushed by the blade of a giant bulldozer.... All we could do was watch, helplessly." Steger's narration has a tense immediacy, and plenty of color photographs draw readers even further into the action. Inserts about outfitting the team are particularly informative; sidebars introducing indi- vidual sled dogs are a welcome bonus. Kids locked in the grip of winter will definitely rethink their definition of cold. EB STROM, YALE QuiltedLandscape: Conversations with Young Immigrants. Simon, 1996 80p illus. with photographs ISBN 0-689-80074-6 $18.00 R Gr. 5-9 Instead of old-timers reminiscing about Atlantic voyages and Ellis Island, Strom offers the viewpoints of children who have come to the United States during the last decade. For each child, the book presents two or three pages of material, primarily first-person reflections culled from interviews, as well as photographs, information about the countries of origin, and small world maps highlighting where each child was born and where he or she now resides. The children range in age from ten to seventeen years and come from lands as diverse as Fiji, Peru, and Ethiopia. The layout is somewhat textbookish, and its repetitious nature makes the book drag if read straight through; children may prefer to dip into it here and there. Both Strom and his interviewees express whole-hearted support of immi- gration without ducking the all-too-common reality of crowded apartments and menial jobs. Native-born children may be jolted by new perspectives on America ("I think Russian young people are more independent than American kids, and more mature") and will enjoy discovering what life is like for kids in other coun- tries ("Girls [in Belarus] never wore nail polish to school or bangs in their faces"). Use with Judith Greenberg's Newcomers to America (BCCB 7/96) for an in-depth look at youthful immigrants today. A detailed, double-spread map, bibliography, source notes, and an index are included. LM TAYLOR, THEODORE Rogue Wave and Other Red-Blooded Sea Stories. Harcourt, 1996 184p ISBN 0-15-201408-X $16.00 Ad Gr. 6-10 Three new tales join five older works (reprinted and slightly revised magazine sto- ries from the '50s and '60s) to form this new collection. Some tales will have immediate appeal for middle-school readers. The title story follows the efforts of a teenage boy to free his sister from the cabin of their overturned boat, while "The Butcher," in which a young man takes revenge against the great white that killed his father, packs the thrills of Jaws. Most, however, feature adult protagonists in situations with which younger readers will have limited knowledge or experience: "Wingman, Fly Me Down" involves a blinded pilot's attempt to land on an air- craft carrier, "Hauling Gold" follows a plot to purloin a shipment of gold en route from South Africa, and "The O'Tannenbaum Affair" recounts the efforts of a British interrogator to elicit information from a captured German submarine cap- tain. The string of happy endings suggests that, with enough pluck and ingenuity, FEBRUARY 1997 * 225 all adversaries-even the sea itself-can be licked. Fans of sea stories will recog- nize that this just ain't so, but they may enjoy these briny yarns nonetheless. EB TEMKO, FLORENCE Traditional Crafts from Mexico and CentralAmerica; illus. by Randall Gooch and with photographs by Robert L. and Diane Wolfe. Lerner, 1996 64p ISBN 0-8225-2935-1 $16.13 Ad Gr. 3-7 Children's-craft guru Temko offers eight projects based on artifacts from south of the Rio Grande, each accompanied by a paragraph or two of cultural background notes. While younger children should have little difficulty cutting and stringing tissue paper for Mexican Papel Picado, rolling clay for a vividly hued Tree of Life, or tracing figures on crumpled brown bags to replicate Mayan Otomi Figures, it will require more dexterity to produce a Guatemalan Worry Doll or to cut the sharp-edged aluminum trays for "tin" ornaments. Visual and written directions are generally clear, although instructions for Guatemalan weaving fail to indicate how to anchor the loom, how to tie on new colors, and how to bundle the weft threads that are passed through the loom. Although Temko explains that mola fabrics are layered and then cut down, her own directions for simplified molas have the layers built up, giving crafters little experience with the real process. Re- producible patterns, a metric conversion chart, and a reading list of current fiction and non-fiction materials on Central America are nice touches, though, and the colorful format and eye-pleasing layout invite crafters to give some of these a try. EB WARDLAW, LEE, ad. Punia and the King ofSharks: A Hawaiian Folktale; illus. by Felipe Davalos. Dial, 1996 32p Library ed. ISBN 0-8037-1683-4 $14.89 Trade ed. ISBN 0-8037-1682-6 $14.99 R 5-8 yrs Ten toothy sharks and their greedy king guard an underwater cave "filled with fat lobsters red as sunset, sweet as coconut." Punia and his mother have been living on yams and poi ever since Punia's father was eaten by the sharks when he dared fish in the lobster cave, and Punia is seeking a change of diet. In a series of con- frontations, Punia tricks the sharks into leaving the cave long enough for him to retrieve lobsters, ultimately ridding the cave of the sharks forever. Wardlaw's re- telling has character and bite, and her trickster Punia, depicted by Davalos as a dark-haired, dark-eyed mischief maker, is a slyly appealing character. Watercolor- and-ink illustrations in full and double-page spreads are outlined in blue, with occasionally awkward compositions and drafting. The sharks, while not realisti- cally drawn, are formidable foes with an array of formidable teeth, and they are enough to put the fear of swimming in the hearts of any reader. This is an easy sell-a strong, unusual story with a likable hero who outwits that fascinator from the deep, the great man-eating shark. Specific source notes are included. JMD WARREN, JAMES A. Cold War: The American Crusade against World Communism 1945-1991. Lothrop, 1996 288p illus. with photographs ISBN 0-688-10596-3 $16.00 R Gr. 9-12 This informative introductory history of the Cold War is broad enough to appeal to high school students, yet detailed enough to fill the needs of undergraduate college courses. Warren describes and explicates the high points of the post-war 226 * THE BULLETIN era (Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, Korean War, McCarthyism, Vietnam, detente, the collapse of communism) in clear if sometimes stodgy prose. The author is restrained, yet his obvious (and admitted) pro-American sympathies shine forth in such statements as "During the cold war years [America] was the leading proponent of basic democratic principles and institutions." To his credit, Warren quickly follows up by acknowledging the arrogance of American power: "Even the most ardent supporter of that era's U.S. foreign policy must recognize that many of the initiatives designed to combat communism may have done little but strengthen its hold." Warren dramatically describes just how close the world came to nuclear holocaust during the Cuban missile crisis while explaining its importance to the superpowers. He admits that, in retrospect, the cold war wasn't all bad-i.e., today's emerging countries bring a lot of chaos with them ("self- determination has brought many headaches"). Helping the teen reader make sense of all this are a selected chronology of pertinent events, maps, tables, and an exten- sive (and challenging) bibliography; endnotes and an index are also included, as is an inset sheaf of photographs. SSV WICK, WALTER A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder; written and illus. with photographs by Walter Wick. Scholastic, 1997 [40p] ISBN 0-590-22197-3 $16.95 Reviewed from galleys R* Gr. 3-6 See this month's Big Picture, p. 197, for review. WILLIAMS, CAROL LYNCH The True Colors of Caitlynne Jackson. Delacorte, 1997 [176p] ISBN 0-385-32249-6 $14.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 Twelve-year-old Caitlynne and her slightly younger sister, Cara, have a hard time: their mother is abusive both physically and verbally as well as neglectful, and the girls are cut off from the rest of the family and from most of their classmates. Things get scarier when their mother announces she's leaving them on their own for the summer so she can go away and finish the book she's always wanted to write. Despite the support of Caitlynne's longtime friend, now boyfriend, Bran- don, the isolation, the burden, and the deprivation when the money and food run out becomes too much for the girls, and they finally realize they need to call on their grandmother for help. The concept that the increasing hardships are giving Caitlynne the strength to deal with and separate from her abusive mother seems a bit grafted onto the main plot, but the story is gripping and believable. The des- peration and up-close parental menace are originally and powerfully depicted, and readers familiar with Williams' previous books (Kelly andMe, BCCB 3/94, Adeline Street, 4/95) will recognize the smooth style and some of the other elements here (the sisterly closeness, the friend-becoming-boyfriend). Fans ofVoigt's The Home- coming (which Caitlynne acknowledges as an inspiration) will appreciate this un- sentimental story of kids dealing with an impossible situation. DS WILLIAMS, JEAN KINNEY The Amish. Watts, 1996 111p illus. with photographs (The American Religious Experience) ISBN 0-531-11275-6 $20.00 Ad Gr. 4-7 The Amish are a trendy topic these days (see Raymond Bial's Amish Home, BCCB FEBRUARY 1997 * 227 5/93, etc.), but this book covers more ground than most. Drawing extensively on adult resources, Williams first traces the history of the Amish and then goes on to examine their faith, their lifestyle, and their constant examination of the latter in view of the former. This is clearer than most books about the differences between various Amish communities and the variance in rules, and about the changes that have been accepted in many communities (though there's no mention of the re- cent surge in rollerblading). Unfortunately, glitches and conceptual discontinuities, most of which could have been solved in editing, mar the book repeatedly: after explaining the absence of electricity, the text then refers to a farmer's answering machine; mules are repeatedly identified in the illustrations as horses; the book never explains where, if the Amish are reluctant to be photographed, all the photos in the book come from. The pictures also tend to be smudgy and dark, stodgy in composition and captioning even outside of the old-fashioned look of their sub- jects. These are frustrating drawbacks in an otherwise capable and informative overview. Endnotes and a list of sources for further reading (including websites) are appended; there is an index. DS WILLIAMS, MARCIA, ad. The Iliad and the Odyssey; ad. and illus. by Marcia Williams. Candlewick, 1996 34p ISBN 0-7636-0053-9 $17.99 R Gr. 2-6 Yes, it's true. Both Greek epics gallop along here in thirty-two pages of sprightly comic strips, starting with a golden apple "to the fairest" (which creates dissension among three goddesses who ask Paris to choose which one of them is most beauti- ful) and ending with Odysseus' triumph over the suitors who have plagued his wife Penelope while he fights the Trojan War and then voyages home. The format is a little hyperactive but perfectly tuned to the CD-ROM generation. Each epi- sode gets a full page or double spread, with lots of graphic slapstick and wisecracks from gods and mortals alike ("Greeks and chips, Yum, Yum!" shouts a Telepylus cannibal harpooning one of Odysseus' men). If there's a guaranteed appetizer for Homer's entree, this is it. In fact, kids can sample Williams' whole buffet, includ- ing similar treatments of King Arthur (BCCB 3/96), Sinbad the Sailor, Robin Hood (5/95), and Don Quixote-and for dessert, they can guzzle down Williams' version of various Greek myths (BCCB 1/92). BH YEE, PAUL Ghost Train; illus. by Harvey Chan. Groundwood/Douglas & McIntyre, 1996 [32p] ISBN 0-88899-257-2 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 3-6 Twelve-year-old Choon-yi may have been born with only one arm, but with it she is able to paint flowers that almost "give off fragrance" and sketch animals that seem to "breathe and move." After her father is killed building railroad passes in America, Choon-yi's ability to draw a true-to-life "fire-car" provides the means by which the spirits of her father and of other Chinese railroad workers find peace. The story is reminiscent of Yee's "Spirits of the Railroad" (from Tales from Gold Mountain, BCCB 3/90) though it deals less directly with the injustices suffered by the Chinese laborers, focusing instead on the relationship between Choon-yi and her father and on how the girl sees both America and the trains for the first time. Chan's illustrations suit the story's somber air, using muted grays and browns in which the occasional striking color (Choon-yi's blue jacket, a glint of orange light 228 * THE BULLETIN on the glass-covered dials of the ghost train's engine) becomes all the more vivid. Backgrounds have a swirling, smoky appearance that suffuses the pictures with an enigmatic atmosphere of steam, sorrow, and spirits. Yee uses precise details ("She ... saw everything: the painted numbers on each car, the polished wooden steps, the dark oil clinging to the wheel axles") and powerful imagery ("Rivers shot like fiery silver dragons through steep canyons") to create a rich atmosphere. Al- though this is hardly the cheerful collaboration displayed in Yee and Chan's Roses Sing on New Snow (BCCB 8/92), the conclusion offers the comforting knowledge that the souls of the dead "will finally find their way home." LM YORINKS, ARTHUR Frank &Joey Go to Work; ISBN 0-06-205800-2; Frank &Joey Eat Lunch; ISBN 0-06-205801-0. Each book: illus. by Maurice Sendak. di Capua/HarperFestival, 1996 $4.95 12p R 3-5 yrs They're a classic beefy guy/dweeby guy comedy team, appearing here in a duet of board books as construction workers on a New York City rooftop. In the first adventure, Joey gets stuck in a steel tub of cement mix, and Frank pulls him out, but leaves Joey's pants behind; number two finds Frank sharing his lunch-a hero sandwich of prodigious length-which Joey promptly drops off the roof onto a straight-laced pedestrian. Frank, Joey, and the tools of their trade are photographed and set onto a Sendakian cartoon cityscape. The ubiquitous biplane buzzes the rooftops, and a host of humans and animals peer from their aerie windows, pro- viding a visual laugh track with their aghast expressions. In a board book every leaf counts, and one might wish that Yorinks had allowed for frames featuring the falling sandwich and showing how Joey stepped into the cement in the first place, but the hoagie-on-the-head and funny underwear are guaranteed to raise a riot with the rugrats anyhow. EB YORK, DUCHESS OF The Royal Switch; ISBN 0-385-32177-5; 163p; Bright Lights; ISBN 0-385-32178-3; 165p. Each book: illus. byJacqueline Rogers. Delacorte, 1996 NR Gr. 4-6 Having formerly chronicled the adventures of a helicopter (Budgie the Little Heli- copter), the Duchess now moves to a pair of preteen girls, American commoner Emily and English princess Amanda. Nearly identical, the two girls accidentally switch places in the first book and live each other's lives until they meet up and realize what's happened; in the second book, Amanda's visit to New York means that she and Emily get to tour the city together and are instrumental in solving a crime. The never-believable switcheroo plot is well worn-Full House's Olsen twins seem a natural for trotting through any made-for-TV movie that might en- sue-and ultimately the books are dead bores because nothing actually happens. Amanda-as-Emily lectures tourists on Queen Victoria, and Emily-as-Amanda dem- onstrates to a noble cousin how she holds her breath until her face turns red; in the next book, many useful statistics about New York monuments are imparted, with only a quick couple of pages to deal with a kindly homeless boy and the jewel thieves (whose vulgarity, in true Nancy-Drew villain style, is what alerts the girls to their iniquity). The books seem unable to decide what to make of Emily's life: sometimes the point of the pairing seems be showing that American commoners can be distant from their parents too; sometimes it seems to be contrasting Amanda's formal and restricted existence with Emily's freer one. Nor does there seem to be FEBRUARY 1997 * 229 much in the way of insiderly insights into the life of a princess-there's nothing here that wouldn't fit previous stereotypes, except possibly a jab at Americans who are trying to pretend to be British (a rather impolitic satiric target considering how much of the prospective audience probably fits into that category). These could have been completely unrealistic but entertaining lighthearted romps, but the con- stant substitution of uninteresting talk for action makes them slow slogging in- deed. DS YUMOTO, KAZUMI The Friends; tr. by Cathy Hirano. Farrar, 1996 170p ISBN 0-374-32460-3 $15.00 R Gr. 5-8 Three sixth-grade Japanese boys-Yamashita, Kawabe, and Kiyama-are insepa- rable. When Yamashita's grandmother dies, the three boys become fascinated with the idea of death and determined to see a dead body. They begin to spy on an old man due to "drop dead at any minute." But the old man has life in him yet, and he draws them into a warm, supportive relationship that each boy desperately needs: Yamashita, because his mother is pressuring him to be more than the fish- shop owner his father is; Kawabe, who thinks of his absent (divorced) father as if he were dead; and Kiyama, whose parents are having difficulty due to/resulting in his mother's heavy drinking. Yumoto places the boys squarely within their soci- ety, showing the expectations and pressures of the adult world while concentrating on the dynamics among the boys and between the boys and the old man. Nar- rated by the sensitive Kiyama, the novel never loses the unsullied, unforgiving, humorous clarity of the twelve-year-old view that the world is easily understood once you know the rules. Gently paced, the action is calmly involving, as the old man tells the boys of his wartime experiences, teaches them the proper way to hang clothes and peel pears, and demonstrates the merits of acceptance and survival. The boys' deathwatch becomes a nurturing experience, and when the old man dies, the reader must smile with Yamashita as he says, "After all, we have a friend in the next world watching out for us! Doesn't that make you feel invincible?" JMD 230 * THE BULLETIN PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS: RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS Hunt, Peter, ed. International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Routledge, 1996. 923p. ISBN 0-415-08856-9. $130.00 You're not hallucinating: that is the page count and that is the price. And the word "omnibus" should have been in that title somewhere; the scope is astound- ing. Size-wise, at least, this is definitely The Big Book in professional reading, hence the big review. So what all does this behemoth cover? Well, there are five sections, each containing a multitude of individually authored articles (the book offers eighty-six articles in total). Theory and Critical Approaches introduces different schools of literary criticism and their implications for children's literature: approaches range from the bibliographic (authored by Peter Hunt himself) through the feminist and psychoanalytic to the new historicist. Types and Genres covers not only the early history of children's literature but also just about every kind of children's literature known, including stalwarts such as folklore and picture books as well as less feted literatures such as information books and children's magazines. The Context of Children's Literature examines how books come to be-in pieces on book design and publishing history-then goes on to explore, in essays on reviewing journals, censorship, prizes, and translation, what we do with them once they're here. Ap- plications of Children's Literature examines the use and dissemination of children's literature in education, librarianship, and therapy. The World of Children's Lit- erature contains twenty-six essays on regional/national children's literatures and is every bit as global an overview as it sounds. The list of contributors is star-studded, with names that will be recogniz- able for people from all manner of disciplines. Perry Nodelman, lona Opie, Karen Nelson Hoyle, Hugh Crago, Jerry Griswold, and Anne Pellowski are just a few examples, but the bench here is quite deep. The majority are British (as is the preponderance of literature discussed), but there's no lack of applicability to or representation from other countries, especially the English-speaking. Nor is there a damping down of individual voices, so that styles are entertainingly varied and viewpoints sometimes intriguingly contradictory between articles. There are drawbacks, of course. Most of these pieces can serve as no more than an introduction to a topic worthy of a book-length, or several books- length, treatment, and readers familiar with the more extended writings of a con- tributor may not find anything inherently new in his or her offering here. Some of the articles unavoidably echo each other, and some of the sections are more loosely organized than others. Space exigencies or no, it would be nice to know more about the contributors than just their professional affiliations. (It's also a shock, in this context, to discover that an article entitled "Major Authors' Work for Chil- dren" uses "major" to mean "adult.") FEBRUARY 1997 * 231 The combination of context and rich breadth, however, is incomparable; for every article topic a reader knows cold there will probably be dozens that he or she has only heard of. Want to learn about the history of the pony-story genre? Alison Haymonds provides a well-sourced account. If you're interested in know- ing about college classes in children's literature, Tony Watkins can explain. Hugh Crago shares a psychologist's insight into the bibliotherapeutic use of children's books. Expand your knowledge past the English-language tradition by looking at Marie Laurentin's overview of children's literature in francophone Africa, or Menna Lloyd Williams' discussion of Welsh-language texts. The international tour could in fact be its own book, but it would be a shame to miss out on the wider conceptual world and its interconnections. Four score of experts here provide succinct and inviting examinations (complete with source notes and suggestions, sometimes extensive, for further reading) of four score topics in a wild and diverse field. If there's a desert-island book of children's literature criticism, this is it. DS