MANUEL'S KITE STRING

Good story telling material, which grades slightly younger than the 6-9 group, and slightly older than the usual picture story book group, so use it accordingly. The stories are just long enough to hold the attention of the children who want something more sustained than the Judy books, for instance. And there are enough pictures to hold the interest. Manual is a little Mexican boy on an American ranch, and the first story tells of his misadventures as he unreals a tangled skein of string, for his kite, only to find that it is actually yarn, and not intended for a kite at all. In the process, he helps ranch creatures out of trouble -- and then gets into some further trouble of his own, from which Maris, whose kitten was responsible, rescues him. The other stories are simpler; there's Silver Bell, the puppy who stole anything that was shiny; the robins that built a nest of wool, and dropped it out of the tree; the pumpkin that grew too big for any Hallowe'en use; and the small boy who went to visit his ranger uncle. We like Margot Austin -- and so do the kids.