RAYMOND AND NELDA

Bottner’s story of a friendship that has hit a snag is a very mild affair, as it doesn’t present any new pathways to explore in this already heavily scrutinized terrain. What it does deliver is a healthy dose of sincerity, pure and simple. Raymond and Nelda are the best of chums. They dance and sing and fool around all the day long. One afternoon, Nelda attempts a twirl for Raymond. She gets dizzy and falls. Raymond laughs, which gives Nelda the fantods; he’s laughing at her, not with her. Raymond thinks she’s overreacting. Who, after all, threw his ball into the lake in a fit of pique? They are miserable apart, but too proud to reconcile until Florence, their letter carrier, suggests a tool of peace. Even though the scheme appears not to work at first, the story, along with art by Hayashi, gives an easy grasp of both sides of the misunderstanding, and provides a way out for any reader in the same fix. (Picture book. 4-8)