The Marvelous Misadventures of Fun-Boy

Unwary browsers of this volume may experience sugar overload, if not from the cutesy title then from prolonged exposure to the darling hero. Each comic "misadventure," presented as a double-page comic strip in a landscape format, requires a quartet of images to deliver the punch line. For example, firefighter Fun-Boy aims a green garden hose at a raging blaze, then balks at a column of gray smoke; in the fourth panel, it becomes clear that he has doused his dad's barbecue grill. In another spread, Fun-Boy and his cherubic classmates hold a "Down with Veggies!" protest march, then cheerfully drop their placards when they notice restaurant "Mr. Ronald's" promotion of "free toys with Broccoli Meal." In a borderline-questionable strip, Fun-Boy climbs to the top of a slide and admires a yellow bird flying by; the bird drops a dollop of white on the slide, and Fun-Boy slips in it as he descends, landing on his head. Cosentino specializes in stylized digital renderings; like the pillow and puppy of his The Story of Honk-Honk-Ashoo and Swella-Bow-Wow , the characters here have wide-set dot-eyes and moon-sliver smiles. The only characters with visible noses are the beaky Vulture Boy and his pug-nosed pal Eddie, seen bullying schoolgirl Mushy Marie on the playground until Fun-Boy (in a Lone Ranger mask) rescues her. Cosentino's superficial urchins are palatable but lack redeeming value. Ages 3-up. (Feb.)