Childrens Hour

One of Longfellow's best known poems, a loving tribute to his three young daughters, is presented here with new artwork. Clean-cut illustrations gleam with light as they capture the poem's playful spirit and highlight a father's tenderness toward mischievous offspring. Longfellow's yellow Cambridge house is carefully recreated as the poem's central image and its reassuring solidity in the first spread sets a homey tone for the book. This same poise, however, sometimes renders the artwork static and the banter and movement of the text is lost. Flesh tones are often questionable--the girls are a trifle pasty-faced and Longfellow looks to be sporting a healthy suntan. Well done, though, is Lang's ( When the Frost Is on the Punkin ) graceful incorporation of the ``Mouse-Tower on the Rhine''; the family changes locale with perfect ease. A useful page of text at the end of the book explains this reference and provides a smattering of information on Longfellow. Ages 3-8. (Oct.)