The great expedition

Young Robert and his band of "brave young explorers"--five children, portrayed with various skin tones, plus a terrier-like pooch--are entrusted one morning with delivering a "valuable" ribbon-tied parcel to an unidentified recipient. "They were a ramshackle bunch," writes Carnavas (My Brother Ben) about the trek-costumed crew, "but each member had a duty essential to the journey." As they make their way across "rugged terrain" that's easily identifiable as a playground, the band dwindles due to an insect incident, adult intervention, and downright desertion, leaving only Robert and Will. Braving hunger and thirst, they are at long last greeted with open arms by the parcel's recipient: a grandmotherly figure revealed to live just on the other side of the playground. Even readers too young to be acquainted with the tropes of documentary-style narration should sense there is good-natured spoofing underway. But this work also understands that the responsibility of an errand is a big deal for little kids, and the largely single-plane drawings, rendered in watercolor and ink, strike a fine balance between mock-seriousness and earnest adventure. Ages 4--7. (Aug.)

In this tongue-in-cheek tale, a band of children travel from one house to another, crossing a playground on their supposedly treacherous trek. Before any characters appear, a scroll-like document begins: "On 20th August, a group of young explorers was charged with a dangerous mission. They were to travel across wild country to deliver a valuable parcel." The document notes that two heroes would be recognized by the end of the journey. Every page uses similarly dramatic language as narration, and every page's humor lies in how the artwork--delightful sketches rendered in ink and watercolor--subverts the text. An ordinary-looking parent in a bathrobe handing a beribboned box to a young boy named Robert is in fact the "senior officer" who sends him on the mission. Team leader Robert's exploring party loses members along the way: Biologist Henry succumbs to an insect bite; botanist Ivy is "ambushed" by another "senior officer," who shows up, glaring, with Ivy's ballet slippers; Lily the animal handler and Floyd the dog leave when Floyd gets distracted by a thrown stick. When only two explorers remain, navigator Will tumbles to the ground in the "sandy desert"--a sandbox, of course--and Robert lets him ride on his back until they reach their destination, where more revelation awaits. Children will appreciate this absorbing adventure, which honors the power of imagination as it tickles the funny bone. Most characters are light-skinned; Henry is brown-skinned. A lighthearted hero's journey. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.