OG THE DOG AND THE UNINVENTOR

Despite this British team's potentially intriguing premise, the plot grows tedious and the logic goes awry well before tale's end. Jack rides his bike with his beloved dog, Og, racing alongside and rather awkwardly announces, "I love the colors of everything on a day like this!" He then encounters The Uninventor, a gaudily garbed woman who fastens her green hair in numerous short ponytails. She proceeds to "uninvent the wheel," causing Jack to crash his bike and townsfolk to stare in dismay at their suddenly inoperable cars, strollers and skateboards. The woman then uninvents a random roundup of things, including rain, ink, money, music, hair and toothpaste. As things disappear, people also lose their memory of them (when wind is uninvented, "The air felt very stuffy, but nobody knew why"). But when she uninvents Og, the boy is conscious of his loss, and the woman "felt Jack's feelings" of anger. In an incredible twist, she takes responsibility for rendering the world "dull, sad, silent, and empty" and uninvents herself ("All the things she uninvented were un-uninvented"). Gower's cartoon artwork exaggerates the inanity of this surreal exercise. Ages 4-7. (July)