CAPITAL TALE. Neering, Rosemary. Markham (Ont.), Fitzhenry & Whiteside, c1984. 48pp, paper, $3.95, ISBN 0-88902-610-6. (Canadian Families) CIP Grades 3-5 Reviewed by Joan Weller Volume 13 Number 3 1985 May This book in the Canadian Families series presents a Chinese mother and child living in Ottawa. It is composed of four main narrative episodes-shopping, working, visiting the Parliament Buildings, and an anomalous airplane trip to Vancouver -followed by questions to test comprehension and to arouse interest in related topics. The vocabulary is unimaginative and not easy. The characters are stilted and stereotypical. Thinly-disguised history and geography lessons fail to elicit curiosity. The book's illustrations, comprising drab photographs and amateuristic black-and-white drawings with a pale pink wash and a totally unartistic layout, do nothing to enhance the text. The editors' objectives are far from clearly defined and farther still from being realized. Joan Weller, Ottawa P.L. Ottawa, Ont.