cover image Full Moon Soup: 9

Full Moon Soup: 9

Alastair Graham. Dial Books, $15 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-8037-1045-0

The baroque goings-on at the Hotel Splendide demonstrate what might happen if the lunatic Monty Python crew were let loose in the Twilight Zone. This wordless book's large format and exceptionally detailed illustrations reveal an exposed section of the grand hostelry, allowing the reader to function as combination sleuth and voyeur. The imaginative tour de force begins when the chief cook samples a suspicious-looking pot of soup in his basement kitchen, and the entire cast of quirky characters is affected. Separate scenarios are enacted in the various rooms; the mayhem escalates to a fever pitch as all within are besieged by a motley assortment of ghosts, space aliens, wild animals and--ever to the rescue--the local constabulary. The literally smashing finale is truly over the top: the real culprit may or may not be exposed in the endpapers. The bill of fare at this loopy lodging offers several chuckles, a shiver or two and a challenge to tantalize even fans of the hard-to-find Waldo--though repeated viewings will be necessary for total digestion. Ages 6-up. (Oct.)