cover image Jamaica Tag-Along

Jamaica Tag-Along

Juanita Havill, Anne S. C'Brien. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), $16 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-395-49602-2

This sequel to Havill and O'Brien's first collaboration, Jamaica's Find , is as sensitive and charming as its predecessor. In this story, Jamaica's feelings are hurt when her older brother Ossie won't let her tag along to his basketball game. But when a younger child disrupts Jamaica's building of a sand castle, she realizes that she is just as impatient with him as Ossie is with her. In this way, Jamaica learns to ``do unto others'' not by explicit instruction but by experience. Children of Jamaica's age are themselves just beginning to develop a moral awareness, will appreciate Havill's convincing portrayal of Jamaica's dilemma. O'Brien's watercolors are extraordinarily lifelike and tender. She has a rare gift for capturing the many nuances of expression; her illustrations lend an extra dimension of compassion to the story. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)