KINDERDIKE

With still another series of handsome paintings—their intense, sophisticated color contrasts glowing from austerely powerful compositions—this accomplished artist recounts a Dutch legend about the decision to rebuild a village destroyed in a spring flood after it is discovered that a kitten and a baby in its cradle have miraculously survived, perched on a dike. Unfortunately, Fisher's doggerel text is of an entirely different quality from his art: couplets like ``Here villagers fished in the summer parch/Here they skated from December to March'' or ``The village was named for the foundling tyke,/and called forever after, Kinderdike'' convey information and caption the illustrations, but that's the best that can be said for them. Still, they're brief, and the fine illustrations almost tell the story without them. (Folklore/Picture book. 5-8)