BOOKS FOR KIDS

FLY! By Christopher Myers, Hyperion/Jump at the Sun:

32 pp., $15.99

Christopher Myers revisits the theme of flight he explored in his mythically inspired “Wings,” this time with a more earthbound lesson in friendship. As a lone boy sits high atop his apartment building, he observes “a twisting river of birds flying patterns above my house.” An emerald-green background emphasizes the boy’s downcast expression; the darkness seems to weigh upon him, despite his sunny yellow shirt. The artist then shifts the perspective from the exterior view of the window to the shadowy interior of the apartment--the flying pigeons outside the window dominate the vignettes. As the boy voices his frustration at being trapped inside, he yells at the pigeons until a voice comes from the rooftop “like grits and gravy rains through the window.” The voice belongs to the birds’ keeper, an older man dressed in white--”his skin is dark brown, the color of church wood, and sharp at the edges.” He becomes the boy’s unlikely instructor in the ways of friendship. As the boy ascends the stairs to the roof, his clothing reflects the inevitable transition he undergoes: His magenta pants blend with the stairwell, while the patch of sunlight at the summit matches his T-shirt. With the man’s guidance, the patterns of the birds make sense to the boy. Just as readers learn most effectively from Myers’ nonverbal cues here, the boy, too, learns to bond with the man in white, and with his birds, through observation rather than words. (All ages)

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ROTTEN RALPH HELPS OUT, By Jack Gantos, Illustrated by Nicole Rubel, Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 48 pp., $14

Fans of Jack Gantos’ irrepressible Ralph who are ready to graduate from picture books will eagerly leap into this early chapter book, the first installment of the “Rotten Ralph Rotten Reader” series. Not surprisingly, the well-intentioned but disaster-prone feline initially does not help out at all but rather comically wreaks havoc as he accompanies Sarah to the library. While she researches a school project on the Egyptians, Ralph constructs a pyramid out of books and practices writing hieroglyphics on the walls. Back home, the rambunctious cat, more determined than ever to offer assistance, proceeds to flood the bathroom when Sarah suggests they build a model of an Egyptian boat; he also fills the living room with sand and palm trees when she considers building a desert oasis. In a pleasing if predictable turnabout, Ralph eventually comes to Sarah’s rescue when he dresses up as the Sphinx to provide her with a winning project for school. The author sprinkles his lighthearted narrative with facts about ancient Egyptian culture and lifestyle. Nicole Rubel’s animated pictures feature ample amusing particulars and reveal the less-than-rotten Ralph with a range of diverting facial expressions. Gantos gets it right again. (Ages 6 to 8.)

*

THE DOG WHO LOVED THE GOOD LIFE, By Bryan Langdo, Henry Holt: 32 pp., $15.95

Party animal Jake, a pup the color of premium lager, rejects his dog dish and walks on his hind legs. He monopolizes the remote control when his befuddled owner, Mr. Hibble, wants to watch TV. “One day, Mr. Hibble’s car keys were missing,” and the milquetoast man comes home to find a pack of mutts eating fast food in the living room; a Chihuahua snoozes in a greasy pizza box, and Jake wears a lampshade on his head. “The next morning Mr. Hibble put Jake on a bus to California,” and when that doesn’t work, Mr. Hibble gives Jake to his niece. The final image shows the pooch sitting sullenly at a tea party. Given Jake’s delinquent nature, this arrangement seems temporary at best, despite the concluding lines (“From that day on, Sara always had someone to play with”). Newcomer Bryan Langdo characterizes Jake as a mute but untamed hound, whose koala bear-cuddly body and studiously innocent expression belie his streetwise ways; the deadpan narration and blunt, rounded animal portraits recall Tim Egan’s work. Langdo establishes Jake’s devil-may-care attitude without a doubt, but does not suggest much personality beyond the joie de vivre. (Ages 3 to 7)

*

JUAN VERDADES , The Man Who Couldn’t Tell a Lie, By Joe Hayes, Illustrated by Joseph Daniel Fiedler, cholastic/Orchard: 32 pp., $16.95

Joe Hayes (“A Spoon for Every Bite”) offers a Latino setting for his smooth retelling of a traditional tale about a steadfastly honest servant. On a ranch owned by Don Ignacio, a spectacular apple tree flourishes under the conscientious care of the foreman, Juan Verdades, who reports daily to the rancher on the condition of his beloved tree. When a fellow rancher, Don Arturo, boasts that he can make Juan tell a lie, Don Ignacio replies, “I’ll bet my ranch against yours that you can’t make my foreman lie to me.” Using his daughter as a pawn, Don Arturo hatches a plot to win his wager, but things don’t go quite as he anticipated. Though the subtitle leaves little doubt as to the resolution of the bet, Hayes’ flowing plot, enlivened by several wry twists, is decidedly satisfying. Spanish words and phrases dot the characters’ dialogue, enhancing the regional flavor. Fiedler’s (“The Crystal Heart”) spare, earth-toned paintings convey the particulars of the setting--from traditional garb to the sprawling landscapes--as well as the timelessness of folklore. (Ages 7 to 10

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Reviews are provided to Book Review by Publishers Weekly, where they first appeared. olice 2001, Publishers Weekly.