Unlike the shy hero of Lucas's debut, Halibut Jackson
, redheaded, pig-tailed Nutmeg takes her fate into her own hands. And well she might, for she lives in a dismal dwelling jammed with bits of broken machinery. "There was always
cardboard for breakfast. There was always
string for lunch. There was always
sawdust for supper." Nutmeg's Uncle Nicodemus and Cousin Nesbit sit stolidly in their post-industrial surroundings, but readers sense that Nutmeg wants more. "I am going for a walk," says she. "Whatever for?" says her uncle. "I don't know
!" snaps Nutmeg. A genie in a blue bottle washes up onto the gray-brown landscape and gives the girl a magic spoon, whose power, like the broom in The
Sorcerer's Apprentice
, stirs their dreary abode into chaos. Soon the whole household spins off on a dizzying adventure, to a world that offers succulent meals in jewel-like hues. Lucas tempers his clean black lines with the sweetness of his palette; his whimsical interiors reveal more curiosities with every viewing, in both dreamy spreads and crisp sequential panels. But just as the story's getting off the ground, it's over, like candy that melts too soon. There's nothing to do but turn back to the beginning and start again; and that's likely just what young readers will do. Ages 3-8. (Aug.)
