The Amazing Voyage of Jackie Grace

Many witty perspectives show the boy, Jackie Grace, headed for bath and bathtime, where he sets his ship sailing. Suddenly sailors join him in his tub (granted permission to board by Jackie's mother), and the waters become storm-tossed. Jackie and the crew are pitched about until they meet up with pirates. It's Jackie, not the sailors, who performs high-seas heroics, until he wakes up, back in the tub. Did it happen, or didn't it? It's a question asked, more convincingly, in other books with similar themes; while Faulkner technically is a polished illustrator (his storm is foreboding, full of ominous waves and cloudy skies, and Jackie is an appealing hero), his talents are not employed to best effect here. Generous doses of humor throughout bolster an otherwise predictable story of dreamy derring-do. Ages 5-8. (August)