You Can Do the Cube, by Patrick Bossert. Middlesex, England: Puffin Books. 112 pp. $1.95. (paperback). The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube, by James G. Nourse. New York: Bantam Books. 64 pp. $1.95 (paperback).

December 14, 1981

''You Can Do the Cube,'' was written by a 13-year-old boy in England. If you've never seen a Rubik's Cube, its a three-dimensional puzzle made of small multi-colored cubelets. To solve the puzzle, a person must restore the cube to solid colors on all six faces. The author, Patrick Bossert, can solve the cube in a minute and a half. The current record for solving the cube is said to be 13 seconds.

Patrick's solution is a lot more complicated than James Nourse's book. Patrick makes more moves, which can get confusing. I haven't been able to solve the cube using his directions, but I have solved it with instructions given by Mr. Nourse in ''The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube.'' Nourse's moves are easier to memorize, and, if you make a mistake, it's simple to correct without having to start over from the beginning.