THE TALE OF THE VANISHING RAINBOW

Didactic though they usually are, it is heartening to observe so many fables about peacemaking emanating from international origins: Rupprecht is German, the award-winning Wilkon Polish. There are two idyllically beautiful kingdoms--one belonging to the bears (flowered meadows), the other to wolves (forests). They live at peace, competing sometimes at sports, until a rainbow they all admire vanishes and each blames the other for its loss. War threatens, but the wolves and bears listen to a wise old bear instead of to their generals, so that when the command is given for battle no one is there to fight. Wilkon's full-color illustrations depict the animals with affection and humor, portraying wood and meadow as too lovely to defile with war. Not too didactic.