CHILDREN OF BELIZE

Staub (Herons, p. 957) has produced a concise photo-essay for the World's Children series (Children of Guatemala, p. 1776, etc.), featuring several dozen appealing youngsters from this unique Central American country, the former colony British Honduras, where English is the official language, the toucan is the national bird, and the various ethnic groups are descended from Maya Indians, Spanish explorers, African and West Indian slaves, and British pirates. There is little about Belize in print for younger readers outside of encyclopedias; this is a fine introduction. Staub travels the country from end to end, visiting rain forests, Mayan ruins, cane fields, and fishing villages, photographing the children who live in each region and work in enterprises ranging from eco-tourism to Mennonite furniture manufacture. Following the series format, narrow columns of text accompany 60+ full-color photos. In a warm and respectful touch, the names of the people in the photographs are always given. A simple map shows all the places mentioned in the text. Unlike some other volumes in the series, this one does not include a ``fact box'' of population, area, languages, etc.—instead, that information is incorporated into the text. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-11)