Little Miss Daredevil: The Incredible Race!

K-Gr 2—Characters from Roger Hargreaves's classic "Mr. Men Little Miss" series have been turned into a cartoon show, which has in turn produced books based upon the modernized adaptations. Little Miss Daredevil participates with the other residents of Dillydale in an Amazing Race-style series of geographical and travel challenges. The whole book is a series of travel contests moving from the Mr. Men version of Mount Rushmore all the way to the Moon, each won by Miss Daredevil's cavalier, pushy optimism. Mr. Strong's collection of episodic stories reinvents the characters as cowboys, pirates, or superheroes, whatever was needed for the sketch, each solved by Mr. Strong's strength or-more likely-indefatigability. The television format divided each episode into a number of short skits featuring different members of the collective, but these books focus on the exploits of a particular individual. This is not to their benefit. The characters are designed around single traits, often aspects of behavior that are extreme in isolation. To then have a series of skits or adventures featuring only variations on that one characteristic lacks variety and creates diminishing returns in entertainment. The artwork effectively mimics the simplified animation of the show, but this also makes the layouts stiff and the characters limited in movement. Readers may find these volumes diverting but unfulfilling.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH