My Way Sally

Sally is a hound who quits running with the pack when she realizes that the end result is the cornering of a small, helpless fox. By using her energy and natural leadership abilities, she learns instead to lead the hunters on a merry chasein the opposite direction of the hunted creature. There is a place for this book on modern shelves, if chosen by parents who wish to bring home this lesson for their kids. But even without the message, the writing is clumsy and the dialogue stilted as it attempts to invoke British accents for the English setting. Maeno's watercolors provide relief from the sentimentalism of the story; her delicate strokes reveal a botanist's sensibility for details in the flora of the countryside. No ages given. (September)