WHEN FRED THE SNAKE AND FRIENDS EXPLORE USA-WEST

Fred the Snake and his friends explore the western United States in Cotton’s picture book.

First stop is Los Angeles, where Fred and friends visit a film set before taking a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. In Yosemite National Park, they rescue a wounded bird. An illicit plane ride over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is followed by a tour of Alcatraz. In Seattle, from the top of the Space Needle, they can see Vancouver, Canada. The crew then navigates around icebergs on a ship to Alaska. Finally, they fly to Hawaii, where they hula dance on Waikiki Beach, visit Pearl Harbor, and camp by the volcano Mauna Kea. Lemaire’s brightly hued cartoon illustrations manage to convey the details of the featured settings and the characters’ activities without overwhelming the pages. The story is written in rhyming verse, which is often forgivably silly but occasionally constraining to the point of treating some subjects reductively. For example, in Alaska, “The native people you may know, / were once called the Eskimo. / But better now, to avoid dispute, / please use Inuit and Aleut.” The text font is rather small and intricate, which might be challenging for younger readers. Each page includes a helpful color-coded header labeling the state and locality, making each place easy to find and revisit. The book’s best element is its balance of educational information and an entertaining tone.

This children’s travel book stokes curiosity and a spirit of adventure.