Mixed-up Sam — Elaine Moore

Gr 1-3-- The whole language approach to the teaching of reading appears to be producing a spate of ``supplemental reading series'' such as these entries. The simplest of the three, Miss Apple's Hats, seems a bit simple-minded as well. Unwilling to use birds to decorate her custom-designed hats, Miss Apple is ordered to jail by a demanding, unattractive Queen. Rescued by her beloved birds, she establishes a thriving hat business in a new town with the help of her feathered friends. This rather bland, predictable story is enlivened by some colorful illustrations of birds, hats, and Miss Apple, although a few of the caricatured close-ups of the Queen and some townspeople are downright grotesque, and even insulting. The best of the three, Oh, Brother! Oh, Sister!, is a poetry collection about sibling relationships. Halloran has captured young attitudes and feelings in a realistic and appealing fashion, and the brevity of the poems should make this a good choice for beginning readers. Unfortunately, the illustrations are sketchy, unfinished, even blurry, as if carelessly and hastily executed. Mixed-Up Sam is merely a hodgepodge of ideas and happenings. Sam, his purring dog, and barking cat live contentedly in their inside-out, upside-down abode until their peace is disturbed by a visit from termagant Aunt Edna. Her plans to make money by featuring Sam and his idiosyncratic pets on TV meet with disaster, and Aunt Edna beats an ignominious retreat. Children might feel a certain kinship with Sam, who looks (and acts!) like a beleaguered ten-year-old with a mustache. However, Aunt Edna's cruelty and the mass confusion portrayed by the busy, full-color illustrations on every page will not attract independent readers. Libraries in need of titles to supplement reading programs will do better with Margaret Mahy's ``My Wonderful Aunt'' series (Childrens) or extra copies of the many literate easy readers available. --Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY