Pomelo's Big Adventure (Pomelo the Garden Elephant)

K-Gr 3--Badescu's pink pachyderm sets off on an adventure after his dandelion becomes bare. He packs his bag with both useful and silly things and tosses a rock with an attached ribbon to decide his direction. He treks through the desert, gets swindled by a con artist, and shares a sausage with his father in the forest. Pomelo then builds a boat and sails until he reaches land. There he makes friends with a starfish. The story has a type of absurdist surrealism that requires reading between the lines, and it might be completely lost on children. Originally written in French, it seems there is something lost in translation. Children will be quick to zero in on the fact that elephants don't have "paws" and that the illustrated sky is white while the text says it's "blue through and through." However, the artwork is enchanting and eccentric, mimicking the story line. For libraries in which Pomelo is popular, a purchase is recommended. For children not familiar with the little elephant's idiosyncratic tales, it may be best to pass.--Emily E. Lazio, The Smithtown Special Library District, NY

Pomelo the elephant's fourth outing is perhaps the most traditional of any of his books, but, rest assured, it's every bit as eccentric as its predecessors. Ready to see new places, Pomelo packs a knapsack and sets forth, eventually trading in for a windup car and meeting a large elephant he dubs Papamelo and a strange starfish-like creature. Badescu conveys the nervousness and anxiety that can come with traveling solo, and tiny, pink Pomelo remains a quirky, comic hero. Some of the more cerebral and adult observations, though ("We take many risks in life, of course, but Pomelo seems to have plunged into a world ruled by chance"), may zoom past young readers. Ages 4-8. (June)