South and North, East and West: The Oxfam Book of Children's Stories

As Whoopi Goldberg explains in a brief introduction, most of the 25 tales in this eclectic, energetic collection have been told by people served by the organization Oxfam, which funds self-help development projects in 77 locales in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. With Rosen's able editing, the orally transmitted tales make a smooth transition to the written word, often preserving the regional dialect and depicting the customs and culture of the country of origin. Equally diverse as the entries is the work from an impressive group of 22 illustrators. Art ranges from Reg Cartwright's stylized paintings for ``Mansoor and the Donkey,'' a North African tale of a wise donkey who helps a fellow win the hand of his beloved; to Charlotte Voake's jaunty cartoons of the monkey who outsmarts two other animals in ``Dog, Cat and Monkey,'' an Indonesian fable; to Janet Woolley's singular, sophisticated collages for ``Good Morning,'' a rather bland story from Bangladesh of a prince convincing a princess to marry him. Oxfam will receive all royalties from this worthwhile compendium. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)