Jabberwocky

In his kinetic interpretation of Carroll's famous verse, Myers (Jazz ) gives the poem a contemporary urban setting and a basketball theme. As the book begins, a girl looks over her shoulder while jumping rope with two others. A flip of the page shows what has distracted her: the dread Jabberwock, a towering, dark figure holding a basketball, flashing ominous-looking teeth (“The jaws that bite”) and displaying enormous, seven-fingered hands (“The claws that catch!”). A boy takes on the task of besting the beast, donning stark white shoes (“his vorpal sword”) and wordlessly challenging the Jabberwock to a game of one-on-one. Electric hues in the backdrops set off Myers's stylized figures and large multicolored font. While the merit of imposing a narrative logic on a work celebrated for its nonsense remains debatable, Myers's version will expose the Carroll classic to kids who otherwise may not encounter it. Ages 5-9. (Sept.)