Palm Trees

The subject of Cote's debut work is hair--the unruly kind that bushes out according to climatic vagaries. Any youngster who has ever suffered a bad hair day will relate to Millie, an African American girl who must wrestle her mop-head into submission before meeting her friend Renee. Finally triumphant, she proudly skips into the August morning only to encounter Renee's derision: ``You've got palm trees on top of your head.'' This abrupt confrontation painfully illustrates the potential gulf between our self-perceptions and the way others view us. But a subtle lesson on friendship emerges--Renee soon surprises the sulking Millie with her own rendition of palm trees, and the giggling pair proceed to design wacky coiffures. Although Millie relinquishes her original convictions of personal taste, she learns to take herself less seriously. Cote's dexterous, frisky pastels display sunny facial expressions and carefree gestures--their sense of goofy fun calls to mind the work of Petra Mathers. Although the conversational delivery sometimes lurches toward overstatement (``Above the city noises rang the sound of friendship . . . a sound more powerful than the beating summer sun''), many girls will associate with this entertaining, not-so-hair-raising story. Ages 4-7. (Mar.)