THE TROUBLE WITH UNCLE

A wickedly zany narrative about Uncle, who ``doesn't just play around with boats'' (e.g., the pictured remote-controlled craft in a park)—``He's a pirate!'' With grown-ups looking askance, he buys a treasure map, sets sail even though he can't do enough math to navigate, catches a ride on an accommodating whale, finds the treasure island developed and occupied by tourists, rescues a movie star kidnapped by real pirates, and marries a mermaid on the way home. There's virtually no cause and effect here, much less a message, but the caricatures and other details are amusing—especially in Cole's unabashedly garish illustrations, where the modern gangster-pirates are routed by bug-eyed Uncle in traditional garb and the dowdy mermaid is last seen watching Cousteau on TV from her comfy living-room fishbowl. Not essential, but fun. (Picture book. 4-8)