Galimoto

Kondi, a seven-year-old African boy, decides to make a galimoto --a toy vehicle--out of scraps of wire. He finds some wire in his shoebox of treasures, but it's not enough, so Kondi searches out more pieces of wire. He visits the shop run by his uncle, who gives Kondi the wires from some packing boxes. The miller lets him take wire from a pile of old motor parts in back of the flour mill. A girl playing on an ant-hill trades Kondi a long piece of wire for a stick, which (he convinces her) is a much better instrument for catching ants. As this determined, very likable boy gradually accumulates enough material to make his galimoto , Williams's gentle text and Stock's soft watercolors capture the essence of life in a contemporary African village. Children from all corners of the world will warm to this tale of a boy's persistence and not-so-small accomplishment. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)