IT'S NOT FAIR

Though characteristically faithful, this is one of the less resonant of the author's emotional sounding boards. It consists of twelve sentences expressing one girl's half envious feelings toward her friend Martha, who can sing in perfect key, eat without getting fat, flop on her furniture without being scolded, etc. And, most unfair of all, Martha says she would rather have the other girl's curly hair, beautiful house, music-loving mother, etc. To us, the common situation is at best the beginning of a story; and William Pena du Bois' pubescent duo (an age admittedly in keeping with the girls' concern for their appearance) takes this further out of the range of the intended picture book audience.