WHERE THE FOUR WINDS BLOW

Picture-book veteran Yaccarino tries his hand at a longer form, with less-than-happy results. When a wish that a wild storm would take away his self-absorbed parents actually comes true, science-geek Roger and his ill-tempered, mall-rat big sister Sally set out to find them. Their search leads to brief encounters with the artificially folksy Sun as well as ethereal Rain and sealskin-clad Snow. They also get lessons in manners from Lord and Lady Fog, battle a monster made from household chemicals, and finally take on the unruly Wind brothers, who have forced their parents into servitude. Discovering that as long as all hold hands, the Winds can’t blow them around, the family escapes, ferried home by friendly Clouds, and last met doing family things together in their yard. Combining wafer-thin characters, clumsy attempts at humor, a wandering plotline, and a severe case of explaining rather than showing that makes the opening chapter positively tedious, this labored, agenda-heavy effort isn’t rescued even by its many small, quirky illustrations. (Fiction. 9-11)