THE FLYING DRAGON ROOM

While Mrs. Jenkins helps Patrick's parents paint their house, she gives Patrick her special tools to work with; a week later, Patrick invites his parents and Mrs. Jenkins on a tour of his new place, a kind of magical amusement park consisting of endless fantasy rooms—the Small Creature Garden, the Bubble Room, the Food Room, the Jumping Room—through which the family and Mrs. Jenkins pass, not without adventures. Wood (The Rainbow Bridge, 1995, etc.) doesn't allow the Flying Dragon Room to enter the story until the last page, when it is mentioned as the location for future fantasies (and provides the excuse to put flying dragons on this book's jacket). Some of this is reminiscent of Willie Wonka, but most of it feels like a weak meshing of several of William Joyce's books, even to the faces and postures of the characters. Combining wonder and adventure with a sense of humor, the text is printed on huge acrylic paintings; the characters are compact and expressive against such fantastic backgrounds. It's just unfortunate that it often seems so derivative. (Picture book. 4-9)