BARTLETT AND THE ICE VOYAGE

In this tongue-in-cheek quest tale, Hirsch (Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman, 2001) suggests that imperious Queens and intrepid Explorers both might have a thing or two to learn. Having tasted everything else delicious in her multiple kingdoms save the fabled melidrop fruit, a young Queen dispatches scruffy but resourceful Bartlett and his oversized companion Jacques Le Grand to fetch one. At first, Bartlett doesn’t think it’s going to be much of an adventure, but challenges await—not least the twin facts that the nearest melidrops are months away by sea, and that they rot a day after being picked—that will test every ounce of his Invention, Desperation, and Perseverance. As a flash of inspiration sends Bartlett on a side trip in search of an iceberg small enough to tow but big enough not to melt, back in the palace the Queen’s impatience reaches fever pitch—but, as she eventually comes to realize, there are some things that royal desires, royal demands, even royal tantrums, just can’t hurry along. In the end, she gets her melidrop (the iceberg turns out to be just big enough), Bartlett proclaims his adventure a satisfying one, and both (along with readers) come away a bit wiser. Small, delicately detailed illustrations reflect the episode’s light tone. (Fiction. 10-12)