YELLOW CAB

A taxicab on an everyday run suddenly finds himself in the middle of the rain forest, where it is up to him to save the ecosystem from destruction.

Jack used to be the fastest, most admired taxi in the city. But his wheels are turning a bit slower these days. Mesmerized by an advertisement for Brazil, Jack suddenly drops off the edge of a bridge and lands smack-dab in the rain forest. A host of critters come out to greet him: monkeys, parrots, even a chameleon—which, of course, immediately turns checkered and yellow. Jack’s fun with the animals is cut short by three large excavators tearing a path through the forest. Jack commands them to stop and suggests that they follow him back to the city, where there are lots of construction sites. Magically, they are all transported back, where Jack believes it was all a dream. Or was it? Possibly due to a stilted translation, there is not much tension in the text. The environmental message falls flat due to the story’s arbitrary nature and bizarre ease with which Jack diverts the excavators. Luckily, the illustrations give added warmth. Pfister’s stamping technique (debuted in Questions, Questions, 2011) fills the fronds with texture and gives the monkeys an irrepressible fuzziness.

Taxi-loving readers will be happy since the tiny, yellow car is the hero, but it is a title a little too easily won.