Cloud Cuckoo Land

Featuring a lustrous pastel palette, Lodge's (Mouldylocks) woodcut art emanates a playfulness worthy of his appealing nonsensical verse. He transports youngsters to 11 diverting destinations, all of which appear on clever endpapers that emulate a road map. Curiously, the inaugural, titular poem offers the least innovative rhyme and graphics, but both take an upward turn after this first stop on the author's itinerary. On the following spread, two youngsters flying in an open-cockpit plane descend on Ice Cone Island, where ""Volcanoes splutter chocolate chips,/ So don't forget your spoon./ But catch an early plane because/ The island melts at noon."" Those familiar with Irish ballads will appreciate Lodge's inventive spin on a traditional tune in another port of call, where he depicts tiny green-clad, bearded fellows mowing a large head of hair, and asks, ""Have you ever been across the sea to Hairland?/ Have you ever watched the bushy bristles grow?/ Then you must have seen the Wee Folk from Killarney,/ As they gently push their mowers to and fro."" Winsome wordplay abounds, as in ""The Sea of Socks,"" filled with ""woolly"" waves that do not deter a brave sailor, ""Who somehow crossed those darned old socks/ Alone, in an open shoe."" Kids will eagerly hop aboard Lodge's entertaining tour and will likely book return visits to his imaginative and colorful locales. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)