>WHAT IS A GIRL? WHAT IS A BOY?
Part of this admirably uncluttered book by Stephanie Waxman, a Los Angeles-based writer-photographer who has a master's degree in human development, is an exercise in stereotype-bashing: "Some people say a boy is someone who plays basketball. But Rosa is playing basketball. And she's a girl." "Some people say a boy is someone who doesn't cry. But Eric is crying. And he's a boy." The other part gets down to the old vive la difference basics, showing photographs of a naked little boy and a girl and a naked man and a woman: "Every man has a penis and testicles." "Every woman has a vulva and vagina." The tone is comfortable, and the book would make an appropriate starting point for a child who is beginning to ponder the ineffable issues raised in the title. (Crowell, $10.95)
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