Upside Downers

Amusing mirror-image pictures and difficult topological representations fill out the pages of this book, defying readers' intuitions about real space. Which way is up? Where is left or right? Front or back? The jokers come out of the house of cards to tell the quaint story of all the kings' soldiers who have been bickering for ages about who's up and who's not. Finally a wise king ``puts them in their place'' by talking about something called point-of-view. The evident relativity of perspectives in a ``round'' world, Anno concludes, is that no one has a privileged position. The translations of the complexities of the world of adults into a simple language of pictures, musical words and quirky situations place this work, which first appeared in 1971, as one of Anno's best and most enduringa book that should be enjoyed and not judged. Ages 4-9. (April)