Yellow Umbrella [With CD]

The acoustic, compelling ""plink, plink"" of higher note piano keys appropriately sets the mood for paging through Yellow Umbrella (Children's Forecasts, noted Nov. 25), a wordless picture book packaged, and designed to be read with, a classical-style music CD. Originally published in South Korea, the volume is both delicate and handsome, with author/illustrator Jae Soo Liu presenting a high-rise view of colorful umbrellas carried by children on a rainy-day walk to school. The umbrellas (and joyful hues) multiply with each successive spread, until a rainbow of galoshes and bumbershoots approaches the school building. Composer Dong II Sheen gracefully glides between rhythms throughout the 15 tracks (a deep, persistent beat accompanies paintings that include a train, jaunty notes indicate a sprinkle of rain in other scenes), maintaining an overall happy tone.