Having a Wonderful Time - Hardcover

Tom Pohrt is the illustrator of the best-selling Crow and Weasel by Barry Lopez, as well as his own picture book, Coyote Goes Walking. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Eva and her feline companion, Sam, are tired of winter, so they book passage on a zeppelin and head for a desert resort. There they flee a hotel room inhabited by domino-playing bugs, ride into the desert on a camel that has no sense of direction, and narrowly escape becoming dinner at the elegant Crocodile Caf?. Pohrt's watercolor-and-ink cover illustration depicts the twosome's arrival in their resort city, while the endpapers foreshadow some of their adventures. There are comical touches such as Eva and Sam posing for a picture while astride the camel, a desert monument of a cat, and colorful winged and four-footed dining patrons. A luncheon-special sign touts "Baked Eva with Cranberries and Orange Cat Cr?pes" and "Cr?me de Camel dessert." Unfortunately, the realistically rendered illustrations and bits of whimsy are not enough to rescue the bland text. Although the travelers' close calls have the potential to make for some exciting reading, their telling here is so matter-of-fact that the story falls flat. Instead of buying tickets for this lackluster journey, opt to travel with Martha and her family in Susan Meddaugh's Martha Calling (Houghton, 1994).
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community-Technical College, CT
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