ADA Potato

So that she may play in the school's ``bandestra''--a band that includes string instruments--Ada takes up the cello. Her father dons earmuffs and her sister teases her about her double chin, but Ada practices hard and learns how to play in time with the other members of the bandestra. Ada's problem comes when some older kids make fun of her cello and call her Ada Potato. It's enough to make Ada put aside her musical aspirations forever. But after some encouraging words from her mother, Ada gets the big kids on her side, and, Pied Piper-style, gets them to follow her to school. Caseley's solutions may strike readers as somewhat unrealistic; these big kids, even in the chipper, carefully detailed paintings, don't look as if they'd go along with Ada's actions. For those willing to suspend belief, however, the story is strongest when it concentrates on Ada's selection of an instrument and on the joys of making music. Ages 3-up. (Mar.)