Jeremy's Tail

Jeremy's attempts to pin the tail on the donkey at a birthday party start him on a mad global jaunt. Since he is blindfolded, he must rely on sounds and the comments of strangers. Jeremy careens through buses, ocean liners and dangerous construction sites, and is eventually shot out of a cannon and deposited back home. This idea is broad in scope, yet the textual comedy and the perfect continuity of the drawings--brimming with visual humor--make the tale perfectly plausible. Rawlins's ( Digging to China ; Tucking Mommy In ) vivid, colorful illustrative style depicts the disparate cultures with panache. Though the story's fantastical aspects transcend concepts of time and space, the interest generated in our worldly neighbors is sure to be genuine. Ages 3-6. (Aug.)