The Seven Seas

Two contrary impulses compete in Jackson's (Cinder Edna) story in which a geography lesson sends a goofy, bucktoothed rabbit on an extended daydream through several imaginary oceans named after colors. "The Green Sea has a rocky reef,/ where caterpillars crawl,/ and near your toes the broccoli grows/ until it's twelve feet tall." But at the end, the rabbit decides to hit the books and encourages readers to do the same: "Yes, I have seen the seven seas,/ I've checked them off my list./ Can you surmise which ones are lies,/ and which of them exist?" An afterword contains a world map, facts about bodies of water, and exercises. Slavin and Melo (Drumheller Dinosaur Dance) contribute thickly brushed, heavily sculpted spreads whose more fanciful ideas (such as fish made of lemon slices in the lemonade waters of the Yellow Sea) are overshadowed by the comically exaggerated cartoon action. Despite the attempt to wrangle a book built on silliness into an aquatic lesson, Jackson's daydream visions contain pleasing elements (the Brown Sea's "whipped cream foam is home sweet home/ to brownish, clownish bears") that should entertain. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)