THE BOY AND THE RIVER

This is a baffler, for it ought to find a place for itself. There are flashes of poetry, glimpses of warm human relationships in this tale of little Pascalet, a small French boy lured by the wide river which flowed near his home. Despite family warnings, Pascalet goes to the river, and there he meets Gatzo, the brave and practical lad held captive, by nebulous, ill-defined captors. Pascalet frees Gatzo and the two little wanderers go adventuring. There's a happy ending, but the story meanders uncertainly before its close. Perhaps the fault lies in the translation, for Bosco is reputed to be a great French writer, and surely that does not come through. Lynton Lamb's small black and whites add little to the quality of a sometimes incoherent tale.