George's Magic Day: A Little Pilot Adventure

Smith launches the paper-over-board Little Pilot Adventures series starring a diminutive flying ace. The simple story centers on the plight of George the Monkey, who yearns to fly. Rejecting the comfort his jungle pals, George wanders to the swamp and is nearly eaten by the wily Snappodile, but Little Pilot arrives in the nick of time to whisk George to safety. Cheers of ""Hip, hip, hooray"" all around bring the story to a close. Smith's boldly inked and colored drawings possess an intriguing, of-the-moment sensibility: there's a hint of scrawl about them, as if they were composed spontaneously to entertain (or mollify) a young fan. The charming visuals help to compensate for the bare-bones text and characters that feel somewhat recycled (a ballerina hippo, a hipster ""Love Leopard"" who's covered in hearts and wears sunglasses). Ages 3-5.