JUST ANOTHER ORDINARY DAY
by Rod Clement & illustrated by Rod Clement
Just Another Ordinary Day (32 pp.; $14.95; PLB $14.89; May 11, 1997; 0-06-027666-5; PLB 0-06-027667-3): Tongue so firmly in cheek that it may take a surgical procedure to get it out, an Australian cartoonist puts wild spins on the events of young Amanda's ``typical'' day, as she rises to her alarm (a shirtless genie whaling on a gong), catches a ride to school with an elderly (in fact, a dinosaur) neighbor, listens to the tentacled, three-eyed new girl tell stories of her home ``in a land far far away,'' and, later that evening, cuddles up with a book and her huge ``cat,'' a lion named Fluffy. The text's casual, poker-faced tone contrasts deliciously with the array of monsters in cleverly skewed surroundings, all rendered with loving attention to detail. Inspired silliness. (Picture book. 4-8)