CORN IS MAIZE: The Gift of the Indians

At a younger level than other introductions and more attractively than most, Aliki describes--in characteristically concise sentences and in pictures leavened with warmth and regard--how corn is planted, fertilized and harvested, how American Indians have cultivated and used it through the centuries (plus how they saved the Pilgrims' lives with it), and how present strains probably evolved from an early wild plant. Aliki depicts the young farmers and feasters, both ancient and modern, as native Americans, and she conveys the central place of corn in the Indians' lives in telling pictures of the gods and festivals it inspired, a few sustaining words about the celebrants' praise and dependence, and no unfortified filler.