SEA SURPRISE

In this unusually cast undersea tale for recent Easy Reader graduates, friends help out when Eel wakes up one morning without his electric zing. Those friends include Kate, a young mermaid, and Dave, a shark with the compellingly simple philosophy that biting solves any problem. Together they organize a surprise party that, thanks to a well-timed bolt of lightning topside, culminates in a literally shocking climax that leaves Eel recharged. Landry adds the occasional item of human furniture or clothing to his simply drawn marine scenes, outfitting Eel, for instance, with a baseball cap that he dons after morosely crawling out of bed. Eel’s presence notwithstanding, the general level of silliness doesn’t quite have the wattage of Denys Cazet’s or Deborah Cronin’s barnyard tales, but young readers willing to take the plunge will be amused. (Fiction. 8-10)