Jenny's Journey

Sitting at her window in a big-city apartment building, Jenny reads a letter from her lonely friend, Maria, who has moved away. In response, Jenny fills a sheet of paper with a drawing of an exotic sailboat, the bow of which is shaped like a large cat. ``This is a picture of the boat I'll sail to visit you,'' she writes, and Samton then takes Jenny on a sea voyage to find her friend. She sails through a crowded harbor; past the statue of Our Lady of the Harbor (who is holding an ice cream cone instead of a torch); over vast expanses of ocean, where she encounters dolphins and sea gulls; and through stormy seas and howling winds. Finally, Jenny reaches a palm tree-studded shore, where Maria awaits her. Although welcome strokes of humor enliven Samton's primitive, somewhat childlike pictures, her humdrum story is not a particularly creative journey through a child's imagination. Ages 3-8. (May)