I REMEMBER '121'

An African American affectionately recalls her childhood on ``S'' Street in Washington, D.C.—neighborhood play, special occasions like the birth of her brother, and celebrations with her big extended family. The plotless narrative doesn't have the transcendent imagination of Ringgold's Tar Beach (1991), nor do these illustrations have as much popular appeal. But Haskins's energetic figures with their large, gentle black eyes and her vibrantly off-balance perspectives and deft simplifications combine to evoke the setting and the experience in an unusually fresh and original style. A fine debut. (Picture book. 3-8)