FAT CHANCE!

Kept home after rheumatic fever (as was customary earlier in this century), Marty is reluctant to practice ``the one thing she couldn't do in school—``Letters were prickly, like porcupine quills. Letters had barbs all over, and they all looked alike.'' Instead, she makes friends with brother Derek's dog and with a wary, sick stray cat, though Derek taunts her: ``Mom hates cats.'' Still, he doesn't tell; and when Mom eventually meets ``Chancy,'' the cat is tame, sleek, and fat, and Mom wisely uses him for a tactile introduction to the letters: ```C as in courage. C is curved like Chancy Cat'....Then they petted an A that started at Chancy's nose and...a T that ran all the way down Chancy's tail.'' Borton's graceful narrative is a rare blend of energy and insight, nicely matched in Ray's tender drawings, enriched with watercolors in warm earth tones. Unusually appealing. (Picture book. 4-8)