Adventures Here, There and Everywhere

During our last trip to the library, Z picked a very interesting trio of picture books. I'm not sure what to make of his taste right now!

The Runaway Dinner by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman is one of the strangest picture books that I have ever come across (and that's saying a lot after having experienced Cowboy & Octopus). The book title is pretty self-explanatory. A young boy, Banjo Cannon, sits down to his standard sausage dinner one night except it turns out in a not so standard way. His dinner, along with his cutlery and his little table and chair, decide to not participate in the meal and they take off running out the front door. The rest of the book is a chase through town -- with some of the meal components faring better than others and Banjo ending up hungry. I wasn't in love with the illustration style in this book and I'm not sure what the point of the story was. Z thought the title was funny at least.

Irresistible for its bright colors and circular shape, Colin McNaughton's The Aliens Are Coming!, Z has been reading this one non-stop. This poetic presentation of an alien invasion is definitely geared toward kids who have discovered the humor of the weird. The aliens are drawn more like monsters than your standard "alien" and they come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. They are on their way to invade the Earth and only one thing can stop them -- the kid in the mirror at the end of the book. I think most of the aliens are gross-looking but apparently they appeal perfectly to five year old boys!

The final book we got was Spike and Cubby's Ice Cream Island Adventure by Heather Sellers and illustrated by Amy L. Young. Spike and Cubby are dogs and best friends. One is an artist and the other is a writer. One day, Spike calls Cubby because he has heard of a fantastic new place -- Ice Cream Island! They rush down to meet the ferry only to find it run by cats who will let every other animal on but dogs. Finally they find a place that rents sailboats and they take one out, even though they are warned not to go if they aren't experienced sailors. Unfortunately, a large storm kicks up and they end up in more trouble than they know how to handle. And yet somehow they make it through and get to Ice Cream Island together. This is a sweet book about friendship and testing your limits. It appears to be out-of-print so your best bet is to find a copy at the library or at a used store.

Keeping all of our runaway ice cream safe from aliens,
K and Z


Support our site and buy The Runaway Dinner, The Aliens Are Coming! and Spike and Cubby's Ice Cream Island Adventure on Amazon or find them at your local library. We borrowed our copies from the library.