BROTHERS AND SISTERS

Straightforward photo essays about three children: Jessica, oldest of three girls; Justin, younger of two boys; Joseph, a middle child with two sisters. All the children are fairly young, with the oldest just seven—younger than much of the book's potential audience; the siblings are close in age, which tends to intensify not only their friendships with each other but their rivalries. Rosenberg presents a normal range of interaction, mostly positive; Ancona's lively color photos serve the text well, though some of them are obviously posed (sleeping or fighting is hard for a six-year-old to fake). Some of the kids seem to be musically gifted; there's a racial mix, but only two- parent families are represented. An attractive look at the normal give-and-take of well-adjusted children. (Nonfiction. 5-9)