Jamal’s Journey

In a lightly suspenseful story, Foreman (The Tortoise and the Soldier) follows a Bedouin caravan across the desert, as a young camel named Jamal struggles to keep up. When a sandstorm strikes, Jamal is separated from his mama and baba, as well as the human and falcon members of the caravan. After a brief encounter with some desert animals, including a jerboa and hare, Jamal spies a falcon from the convoy, which swoops in to guide him back to the group. Foreman’s pencil-and-watercolor images readily convey the desert’s vastness through sweeping expanses of golden sand and pale skies that deepen to a rich blue as night falls; the imposing skyline of Dubai looms in the distance, and the caravan eventually reaches a bustling and vivid marketplace on the city’s outskirts. “Jamal had never been in a city before,” writes Foreman. “It is so busy, so noisy—the market, the boats, the sea. So exciting!” Children should find it easy to identify with Jamal’s frustrations at his limitations, fears upon getting lost, and relief and excited curiosity once his journey is back on track. Ages 4–9. (Apr.)