The Land of Neverbelieve

Gr 4 Up—"You would never believe the wondrous delights of the calm and tranquil clearing: a surprising, cherished tree, and if you are lucky, delightful surreal visitors showing off their talents." The gnarled, leafless alphabet tree in "The Happy Forest Clearing" is among a multitude of fanciful plants and animals in this extravagant travelogue. Some are surreal, others murky or indistinct in crowded double-page entries describing the author's encounters on a strange, heavily populated island he found one day "while quietly puttering about at sea in my boat." Messenger's soft-hued drawings, dominated by gray greens and tans, depict an island laid out in the profile of a wolf. Many views are extended in narrow foldout panels on one side or the other. The entries form a catalogue of the physical features, habitations, and flora and fauna of the island in dry, terse commentary-probably intended as tongue-in-cheek-set in brief introductions and captions for the numerous pictures. "You would never believe" the pasta tree that delivers spaghetti clusters with an "herb-like leaf, which tastes uncannily like basil." Some references are more likely to be understood by adults, and some of the jokes are pretty flat, but there are amusing incongruities lurking here as well. This is a browsing item for the oversize shelves; it could also be useful in prompting children to develop their own imaginary lands.—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston