Wright Books at the Wright Time

Joining the spate of titles celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first successful flight are two of particular interest to kids wanting to learn more about the related science and technology. Mary Kay Carson's The Wright Brothers for Kids: How They Invented the Airplane combines a detailed and invigorating history of the Wright Brothers' work with archival photographs and clear, illustrated directions for 21 projects. Interspersed throughout the text, the activities include building a curved kite, an airfoil and a model glider. (Chicago Review, $14.95 paper 160p ages 9-up ISBN 1-55652-477-3; May)

Sixty period photographs, reproduced as large-scale duotones, illuminate Airborne: A Photobiography of Wilbur and Orville Wright by Mary Collins, newest in the publisher's photobiography series. Images range from the famous (the December 17, 1903, flight at Kitty Hawk) to the less glamorous (Wilbur cooking in the 1902 hangar where he and Orville slept, worked and stored their glider) to the thrillingly atmospheric (French farmers stand by their ox-drawn carts, looking up as Wilbur sails overhead). Printed with eloquent quotes from the Wrights, the photos accompany an insightful text that includes an especially lucid discussion of the Wrights' technological achievements. (National Geographic, $18.95 64p ages 10-up ISBN 0-7922-6957-8; Mar.)

The Armchair Adventurer

Several books promise safari excitement to readers of varying ages and abilities. For the youngest, Face to Face Safari by Sally Hewitt, illus. by Chris Gilvan-Cartwright, features six big, vividly colored pop-ups of the heads of an elephant, lion, etc.; when the pages are opened, the animals' faces will loom larger than the readers'. (Abrams, $14.95 12p ages 3-6 ISBN 0-8109-4261-5; Apr.)

Graceful watercolors of Maasai characters moving through the grasslands illuminate We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs, illus. by Julia Cairns. Rhyming text introduces different animals, from one leopard to 10 elephants. Numbers are also given in Swahili, along with a pronunciation guide; endnotes supply facts about the Maasai and Tanzania. (Barefoot, $15.99 32p ages 4-7 ISBN 1-84148-478-4; Mar.)

Along the lines of his Amazon Diary, Hudson Talbott's Safari Journal poses as the notebook of a 12-year-old boy who accompanies his fashionista aunt on a photo shoot to Kenya. Carey's jottings, snapshots and drawings describe encounters with the Maasai, wildlife and a ring of poachers. (Harcourt/Silver Whistle, $18 64p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-15-216393-X; Apr.)

True Companions

Having undergone a metamorphosis of his own in Toestomper and the Caterpillars, Sharleen Collicut's hero watches his charges transform in Toestomper and the Bad Butterflies. The story line, about Toestomper's attempts to protect the butterflies from the giant Big Tooth (a hippo), occasions large-scale, airbrush-style watercolors of a highly anthropomorphized woodland. (Houghton, $15 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-618-14092-1; Apr.)

In Dolores on Her Toes by Barbara Samuels, a companion to Aloha, Dolores, the sprightly young heroine wants to be a ballerina and she naturally assumes that her cat shares her aspirations. But when the feline disappears before Tutu Day, Dolores learns his true feelings. (FSG/Kroupa, $16.50 40p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-374-31818-2; May)

Steve Jenkins contributes another artistically wrought, imaginatively conceived look at the natural world. What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Jenkins and wife Robin Page, stages a guessing game. Illustrated with Jenkins's trademark cut-paper art, one spread will show animals' tails (or noses, ears, etc.) as text asks variations of the titular question; turn the page, and the whole bodies of the animals are shown as answers are supplied ("If you're a lizard, you break off your tail to get away"; "If you're a scorpion, your tail can give a nasty sting"). Four pages of illustrated endnotes deliver meaty profiles of the 30 featured creatures. (Houghton, $15 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-618-25628-8; Mar.)

Admirers of Paul Goble's Native American tales will savor the Caldecott Medalist's Mystic Horse, based on a Pawnee legend about a humble boy rewarded for his kindness to an old, lame horse. As in other of the artist's works, detailed notes supply context for both the story and the designs incorporated into the illustrations. (HarperCollins, $16.99 40p all ages ISBN 0-06-029813-8; Apr.)

In another key entirely, I'm Still in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs by Alan Katz, illus. by David Catrow, follows the author and illustrator's Take Me Out of the Bathtub with 14 more song parodies. "I'm a Menace" puts these opening lyrics to the tune of "Frère Jacques": "I'm a menace/ I played tennis/ In my house/ In my room/ Didn't know a racket/ Could hit a lamp and crack it/ I smell doom/ In my room"; as subsequent verses chronicle the sports-lover's accidents, Catrow's satirical, full-spread art shows a ravaged house and lawn. (S&S/McElderry, $15.95 32p ages 2-8 ISBN 0-689-84551-0; Apr.)

In James Stevenson's newest addition to the series that includes Sweet Corn and Popcorn, Corn Chowder boasts 25 quirky, quip-like poems and ink-and-watercolor sketches that lightly disarm the audience. "Quiz" asks, "Q: Are these flying objects in outer space?" The facing illustration certainly suggests UFOs, but it has text printed in tiny, upside-down type at the bottom of the page: "A: No. This is what happened when I dropped the box of Raisin Bran on the kitchen floor." (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, $15.99 48p ages 8-up ISBN 0-06-053059-6; Apr.)

Using his highly successful q&a formula and proceeding chronologically, Kenneth C. Davis adds to his series for young people with Don't Know Much About American History, illus. by Matt Faulkner. Readers may be surprised to learn, for example, that the ratification of the constitution was not "a sure thing," requiring nine of the 13 states' approval (Virginia and New York were two of the holdouts) or that 17 African-American men were elected to Congress between 1869 and 1876. Sidebars, brief bios, copious quotes and Faulkner's pen-and-inks keep the design lively. (HarperCollins, $19.99 224p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-06-028603-2; HarperTrophy, $6.99 paper -440836-1; Apr.)