cover image Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise

Jan Backovsky. Tambourine Books, $14 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-688-11857-0

A brave big-game hunter gets more than he bargained for when he tries to take the denizens of Paradise Island by storm. When Mr. Smith arrives by ship to claim the animals there as prizes, the wild beasts decide to give him a not-so-friendly welcome. Each species utilizes its unique talents to aggravate the hunter--the monkey steals his clothes; the roaring lion frightens him; the elephant spews him with water--until he flees in disgust. Backovsky's story has a noble premise, but the stilted sentences of his text fall a bit flat. Each new paragraph assesses Mr. Smith's mood or condition with a humdrum line: ``Mr. Smith was happy''; ``Mr. Smith wasn't very happy''; ``And he was wet.'' With their bold colors and exuberant features, the occasionally misshapen characters evince a certain naive charm despite their compositional faults. Kids will relish the fact that the portly hunter with the gruff manner is clearly asking for his comeuppance. And environmentalists will cheer that the animals win against guns and civilization--this round, anyway. Ages 4-up. (Aug.)