(5 of 5)
DAY OF THE PAINTER by Duard G. Slattery, illustrated by Sanford McGrail (Lion; $4.50). Taken directly from the 1960 Academy Award-winning short, the book depicts an abstract artist who throws paint on a large canvas, then slices it up for sale. As much fun as the movie.
THE TRUTHFUL HARP by Lloyd Alexander, illustrated by Evaline Ness (Holt; $3.50). A prizewinning team tells a story, with more text than most picture books, about a young king who fulfills his secret wish to wander the countryside as a bard and learns thereby many truths.
ARTHUR'S WORLD by Mischa Richter (Doubleday; $2.95). Arthur one day decides to see the world and proceeds to build an amazing watchtower in order to see over his backyard fence. His world, drawn by The New Yorker cartoonist, is both instructive and delightful.
TIMOTHY'S FLOWER by Jean Van Leeuwen, illustrated by Moneta Barnett (Random House; $3.50). A touching story of a poor boy in New York City who finds and cherishes a single yellow flower.
THE FOOLING OF KING ALEXANDER by Mervyn Skipper, illustrated by Gaynor Chapman (Atheneum; $4.50). A small Chinese boy saves his country by tricking the great conqueror Alexander. First published in 1930, the story is still good, the illustrations excellent.
AN ANTEATER NAMED ARTHUR by Bernard Waber (Houghton Mifflin; $3.25). A most engaging anteater is our Arthur: he doesn't understand his species' name ("The bird is not called a wormeater"), fusses with food, preferring brown ants to red ones, and forgets everything when he goes to school his spelling book, his pencil case, his sneakers.
Best Sellers
FICTION
1. The Confessions of Nat Turner, Styron (1 last week)
2. Topaz, Uris (3)
3. The Gabriel Hounds, Stewart (2)
4. The Chosen, Potok (4)
5. The Exhibitionist, Sutton (9)
6. A Night of Watching, Arnold (7)
7. Rosemary's Baby, Levin (6)
8. Christy, Marshall (10)
9. The Arrangement, Kazan (8)
10. Night Falls on the City, Gainham (5)
NONFICTION
1. Our Crowd, Birmingham (1)
2. Nicholas and Alexandra, Massie (2)
3. Rickenbacker, Rickenbacker
4. Twenty Letters to a Friend, Alliluyeva (3)
5. The New Industrial State, Galbraith (4)
6. Anyone Can Make a Million, Shulman (7)
7. A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church, Kavanaugh (5)
8. Incredible Victory, Lord (6)
9. Memoirs: 1925-1950, Kennan
10. The Beautiful People, Bender
*All times E.S.T.