GOING BAREFOOT

A little boy waits for barefoot days, for those soft June days when shoes are no longer necessary for children to wear. By March he begins to envy the animals who run over the cold ground without a thought of sniffles. He ponders on their ways, on the fact of shoes, on the difference between claws, paws, and feelers. And then, before he knows it, his mother turns the calendar page and he, too, can venture out in barefoot freedom. This rhymed text imparts a substantial amount of naturalist information in a pleasant and animated fashion. The colorful illustrations of Adrienne Adams partake of the author's happy facility to couch fact in playful terms.