OVER THE DEEP BLUE SEA

Akiko and Hiroshi are lonely on the island to which their parents' work has brought them, until they meet Pablo, who shows them the tropical world's entrancing secrets, teaches them to paddle an outrigger canoe, and shares the delights of a coral reef. Then, suddenly, Pablo declares himself an enemy: he's asked his grandma about the wreck in the bay and learned how ``people from your country'' attacked the island long ago. The conclusion is trite—Hiroshi sets out on his own in a canoe and, caught in a strong current, is heroically rescued by Pablo; then an adult explains that their ancestors may have come from the ``same place,'' carried in their ``tiny boats all around the world''— but redeemed by the vividly phrased text, while Wildsmith has outdone himself in splendid paintings of a lush tropical isle aglow between a richly luminous sky and a gloriously beautiful sea. It's good, too, to have the Japanese point of view on the lingering resentments born of WW II. A useful multicultural contribution that's a joy to behold. (Picture book. 4-9)