Pedrito's Day

Garay, who so gracefully illustrated A Handful of Seeds by Monica Hughes, makes an eloquent debut as writer. Pedrito's father has gone North to work and writes home monthly, asking of his son, ""Is he big enough yet?"" When the reply is yes, he will add to his son's earnings so that Pedrito can buy what he wants most, a bike. One day, as Pedrito diligently shines shoes at the market, Tia Paula at the fruit stand asks him to get change. He is sidetracked when older boys invite him to join their soccer game: ""They all knew they should be working, but the ball swept back and forth, drawing them in as if it were weaving a spell."" He loses the money, but, unprompted, replaces it with most of his bicycle savings, an action that prompts his mother to pronounce, ""Now he is big enough."" Both text and art create a strong sense of the Latin American marketplace where Pedrito and his mother work, in which bright clothes and merchandise stand out against gray streets and shabby brown buildings. Garay's unusual mix of paint and fine cross-hatching combines strongly defined forms with a delicate, gravelly texture. The gravity and stability of the painstaking art heightens the wisdom of this sober but warm story. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)