SISTER YESSA'S STORY

While Yessa tries to get to her brother's place before it rains, animals gather to hear the story she tells (as she walks along) about the Great Turtle who roamed the early world with all the creatures on his back. Wherever he stopped- -desert, icecap, jungle—animals fell off, populating the earth. As Yessa's story ends, she reaches her brother's door and the rain begins. Clues—gathering clouds, animals coming two by two—will help children guess that YESsa's brother is NOah—``but that's another story.'' Though the art for the framing story fills the double spreads, the smaller pictures of the Great Turtle—bordered by animals in styles suggested by the indigenous art of the appropriate regions- -are imposed on jarring expanses of white. Still, despite its awkward page design, a clever interleaving of two ancient traditions, with appealing animals rendered in intense, attractive color. (Picture book. 5-9)