Clunky rhymes and convoluted phrasing hamper Nichol's (Beethoven Lives Upstairs
) lengthy verse narrative about two hounds named Safe and Sound, who are the proverbial provincial travelers. The book's reproving narrator has ostensibly discovered the dogs' journals of their round-the-world travels and, like a 19th-century novelist, tells their tale as he/she moralistically addresses the dogs directly: "Oh, Safe and Sound, dear little friends,/ We gather from your books/ You're finding out/ Adventure's not as easy as it looks." As the dogs hold forth on cultural customs ("In Spain they have their dinner when it should be time for bed./ And go to France for snails to eat, for that's what you'll be fed"), they traffic in a mix of stereotypes and fearfulness (flying to Europe, they discover "that planes go much too high"). The humor depends on the audience's ability to laugh at the characters, but children, who may share some of the hounds' anxiety, may be likelier to identify with Safe and Sound (even though they may lack the experience to put the jokes into context).
Reichel's illustrations capitalize on the dogs' hapless exploits with witty details (e.g., one of the "panicked" hounds leaves pawprints all over the window of a double-decker bus in London). Where much of the text is hoary, the artist surprises readers with her unexpected choice of color (particularly her lemon skies and mountain ranges) and expressive compositions. All ages. (Sept.)
