THE FIGHT

In the ``Bank Street Ready-to-Read'' series (Level 2), a gentle fable about the origins of conflict, beginning in the manner of ``The House that Jack Built'': ``This is Dan who bumped [accidentally] into Fran, which started the fight in the schoolyard.'' One kid after another ricochets into the accumulating melee until a teacher trips on his way to sort things out and ends at the bottom of a pile of everybody concerned—after which they laudably (if not altogether realistically) figure out what really happened and admit that ``It was dumb!'': ``I used my fists and not my head.'' Good lesson, painlessly delivered in a catchy, cadenced text and relaxed, lighthearted illustrations that capture the story's humor. (Easy reader. 4-8)