Sir Ryan's Quest

A typical household provides the perfect landscape for adventure-as seen through the eyes of a boy's imagination in this picture book debut. The king of pots-who rules the kingdom in the kitchen cupboards-sends a brave and armored Sir Ryan on a far-reaching quest beginning with the ""jungle"" of a bedroom closet, the garage ""castle"" filled with oily machines, and finally, the ""cave"" beneath the kingdom, home to a ""moldy monster"" (a collection of old boxes). Ryan gathers courage-and knightly accessories like a cape and shield-along the way. Young readers may grow weary of Ryan's elevated and somewhat cumbersome knight-speak, and may be puzzled that Ryan never seems to find what he seeks (the quest ends with a hug and some soup from Mom). However, the preschool set will surely relate to the boy's passion for active, imaginary play. Deeble's colored-pencil illustrations keep readers clued in to reality and fantasy alike and have a rough childlike quality that suits the subject matter. Ages 4-8.