WHEN CRICKET WAS LITTLE

With this issue, we report the first publications of a newcomer in the field of juvenile books, and want to congratulate them on as fine book making as there is in the market... Here in pictures and brief text is the story of Cricket, who lived in a primitive log cabin with her uncle. In colorful drawings, in which a sophisticated adult captures the feel of drawings made by a child, we see Cricket and her daily chores, filling the oil lamps, bathing in a tin tub, chopping wood (let's hope our five year old doesn't want to imitate her here!); we see her playing, climbing trees, making believe, picking flowers and fruit; we see her at school and in the fields helping her uncle. It is a might-be-true story book, with vocabulary that second grade readers might tackle. The bright, splashy color and simple lines, the facelessness of most of the pictures, carry out the artist's intent- but for this adult reader, at any rate, the simulation of child drawing is carried too far. The lettering is hand-formed; the line span seems a little long for genuine easy reading. Heavy board, backbone well reenforced.