The Legend of Elinea: The Guardian of the Oceans

Delanssay's ethereal figures dive and swoop like dolphins across the pages of this allegory about the plundering of the world's oceans. In a dense, wordy narrative, Elinea, the guardian of the oceans, is captured by pirates with dragnets who exhaust the fisheries and trap innocent creatures; only Bastian, an emo-looking descendant of fishermen from a simpler time, can save her. Delanssay (The Secret Life of Princesses) sends Bastian on an exclamation point%E2%80%93filled quest to the bottom of the ocean: "Elinea's trident revealed itself!... Never before had Bastian seen such light... nor had he ever felt such force when he grabbed the precious object!" Kids who thrill to outsize epics like The Lord of the Rings may be enthused about the story's breathless quality and dramatic portrayal of good and evil, while younger listeners who can't follow the story will be mesmerized by the artwork. Despite the book's timely theme and the plug for Greenpeace at the end, the prose is too overwrought to be used as a springboard for discussion of environmental issues; it's strictly bedtime story material. Ages 7%E2%80%93up. (Mar.)