Senor Mundo and Me

Trapped on a ""deserted"" tropical island with her two bespectacled scientist parents and ""a giant computer,"" Lizzie grumbles about the meager prospects for her birthday celebration. Just as she and her pet Starfish (who travels in a water-filled bucket) start to run away, a ""Happy Birthday"" greeting emits from the computer. The well-wisher is Senor Mundo, an image of the world on a wall of screens, who offers the malcontent a gift she can't refuse: an escape to the destination of her choice. She chooses ""pink with pride"" Mars and discovers a cold, sterile and dust-laden environment that makes her grateful to return to the friendly inhabitants of her island home. Mariscal's cartoon-like illustrations brim with equatorial colors and whimsically capture the diverse range of the earth's ecosystems. However, next to this visual spunk, Summers's narration seems somewhat stiff and calculated. While respectably accomplishing its Earth-appreciation message, the book is strangely devoid of a sense of adventure or humor. Ages 5-9. (Nov.)