The Matatu

K-Gr 2—In this congenial tale of daily life in Kenya, Kioko celebrates his fifth birthday by taking a special bus ride with his grandfather. The matatu is a colorful, overloaded bus that the child has longed to ride. He wonders why barking dogs always chase it, and his grandfather tells him a simple tale explaining why. Walters adds a closing note for adults about the local practices of the matatu and its driver and conductor. The short story that grandfather tells is an adaptation of a Kamba folktale, and an opening note by the director of the Kenyan organization Creation of Hope explains that the author has been made a Kamba elder, which gives him the right to tell this tribally owned tale. Campbell uses lightly brushed oil paints to sketch the yellow bus, its multitude of passengers and luggage, and the passing terrain. The enjoyable view of life in this faraway country beautifully frames a universal special relationship between a child and a grandparent. Children and adults will smile at Kioko's concluding action in response to his grandfather's tale. With considerable conversation between Kioko and his grandfather, the text is a bit long and detailed for reading aloud to groups, but the book should be widely appealing and useful.—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston