La Bailarina = The Dancer

Pictures carry this story of a father and daughter who soak up the sights of their New York neighborhood en route to the girl's ballet class. Auclair's city is a succession of cheerfully colored, softly delineated scenes: a man with a parrot waits by the fruit and vegetable stand; a sidewalk artist chalks up a tropical garden; a neatly dressed violinist serenades passers-by. The text consists only of key phrases (from ``Good-bye, Mommy'' to ``Beautiful!'' to ``My school''), which are also translated into Spanish and Japanese and transliterated for English speakers. Why Spanish and Japanese? Presumably these are the languages of the girl's parents, but Auclair's pictures skirt the issue, never clarifying the various characters' races. It's as if author and artist raise the question of race and then say it doesn't matter--a good answer, perhaps, but too subtle to lend coherence to this tale. Ages 3-8. (Mar.)