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May's bounty brings in a striking variety of satisfying selections, including an endearing tribute to a hard-working great-grandmother that's just right for Mother's Day. A few other titles that offer clever twists and turns on established themes and formats, plus some wholesome choices for young adults, will help children start thinking about summer vacation.
``Ma Dear's Aprons," by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrations by Floyd Cooper; Atheneum, 32 pp., $16, ages 3 to 8.
Patricia C. McKissack, winner of numerous awards for her children's books, here offers a loving tribute to her great-grandmother, a single parent who raised three children in rural Alabama during the early 1900s. Leanna Crossley Bowens, affectionately called ``Ma Dear" by her family, made a living ``cooking, cleaning, washing, and ironing for other people" at a time when there were no washing machines, electric irons or vacuum cleaners. For domestic workers of the period, the apron was an all-purpose tool used to carry fire wood, to gather eggs and vegetables, ``or just to hide a special treat for a willing helper." McKissack's story looks at a typical week in the life of this resourceful woman. Ma Dear's son, David Earl - McKissack's grandfather - knows what day it is by the color of his mother's apron. If it's blue, then it must be Monday, and time to do some wash at the scrubbing board. On Saturday, she bakes pies, and for that, there is a flowered apron. Only on Sunday, when the church...