Subtitled A Child's-Eye View of a Southern African Country'' and originally written as letters (to classmates in New York) by an eight-year-old who had gone to live there. Born in 1981, Nila, now at the United Nations International School, is bright, curious, communicative, and disarmingly sensible; she also chooses exactly the things that will interest other children- -where Swaziland is, how she and her parents got there (there's a wonderfully clear and simple map), what her school, home, and friends were like, a few words in siSwati and some surprising words in English (a traffic light is a ``robot''). There are general facts (``the Milky Way is fancier...Some constellations are upside down...There's no Big Dipper'') and fascinating oddments (toads like to hide in muddy shoes left out at night); we even get a recipe and a modern folktale. Best, Nila really conveys the flavor of the land and its people, both in her simple, eminently readable text and in her lively, informative illustrations. A few color photos round out this charming book. (Nonfiction. 4-9) Read full book review >