The Castaway
Veteran illustrator James Stevenson doesn't travel with Hubie nearly  enough. The last trip that this reluctantly intrepid little mouse took was  aboard an ocean liner bound for France inThe Stowaway. Now Hubie's  headed for Barabooda Island, a tropical vacation paradise that--not  surprisingly--he finds absolutely terrifying, thanks to a scary matinee he saw  called "The Island of No Return!"To make matters worse, his refined, upper-middle-class mouse family has decided  they'll take the most elegant means of conveyance available in 1937--theIsland Clipper. ("My goodness, it's a giganticdirigible!") Hubie  puts on a brave face (especially hard with a bratty older brother around), but  he can't shake thoughts of cannibals, volcanoes, and tidal waves. A storm  approaches, and Hubie's worst fears come to life when he's thrown overboard.  Will Hubie become a castaway? Can he conquer his fears? Can a mouse ever come  back from the Island of No Return?The Castaway's fun comic-book style will keep kids turning pages, while  Stevenson balances out his spare ink-and-watercolor illustrations with subtle  lines that make sure no frightened hop or smug dismissal goes unnoticed. The  wry-humored artist's greatest technical feat, however, can be seen in the way he  makes a young boy's fears seem simultaneously very serious, completely  ridiculous, and all the while eminently beatable--and that's something that kidsandparents should appreciate. (Ages 4 to 8)--Paul Hughes