The Emperor of Absurdia
Kindergarten-Grade 1—In this humorous and foolish story, a boy has a dream that carries him throughout the land looking up pointy trees for his snuggly scarf and into a cave for a dragon. When he awakens, readers can observe in his bedroom the different elements that appeared in various forms within his weird dream. Riddell's imaginative illustrations outshine the odd story line. Children will pore over the scales of the dragon, the flower-pod bed, and the droll blue sky fish. The pointy bird with his "pointy-sounding squawk" appears to be, grotesquely, all head and no body. Seuss-like in appearance, the exaggerated length of Wardrobe Monster's blue arms hold the boy emperor safe when he is dropped from the sky. Comparing the landscape from the front to the rear endpapers is another visual delight. This is an additional selection for those youngsters who love searching illustrations for minute details.—Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.