HEATHER HITS HER FIRST HOME RUN. Plantos, Ted. Illustrated by Maureen Paxton. Windsor, Black Moss Press, cl 986.23pp, paper, $455, ISBN 0-88753-142-3. Grade 1-3 Reviewed by Fran Newman Volume 14 Number 4 1986 July Evidently this story is based on a true incident in the life of the author. (So says the back cover). And I suppose little girls who are just beginning to play baseball, or T ball, as in this case, will identify with Heather as she, the perpetual striker-out girl, manages to hit a fly ball that, un-caught, leads to three runs being scored. That is all there is to this little tale except, and it is a big except, when Heather misses her first two tries she does something that makes me very cross with this writer; she cries. "Heather felt a little tear in each of her eyes. They tickled her face when they dripped down to her chin. Heather began to sniffle when she stepped up to the ball again." I have to wonder why the editors saw fit to play up such an obviously sexual stereotyped image of a young girl in sports. Predictably, a boy chides her and she becomes angry enough to really smack the next ball. I would not purchase this little book because of such a major failing. The illustrations, done in full colour, although covering only part of each page, are primitive and often unattractive. On the whole, an unrecommended effort. Fran Newman, Murray Centennial P.S., Trenton, Ont.