Jabberwocky

Rating:
Summary: In muted, sepia tones sparked with lime green
Review: O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! From offbeat illustrator Joel Stewart comes this utterly charming picture book adaptation of the celebrated nonsense rhyme "Jabberwocky" from Lewis Carroll's classic children's novel "Through the Looking Glass." In muted, sepia tones sparked with lime green, lemon yellow and apple red, Stewart paints the mysterious Jabberwocky as a creature part English dandy, part Beetlejuice and part hedge. "And, as in uffish thought he stood, the Jabberwock, with eyes of flame'" and -- according to Stewart's whimsical drawings -- teeth of checker boards, guts of a robot, and elongated claws of regular manicure appointments. A supporting cast of characters appear and disappear without explanation (though, of course, none is needed) as do the odd cameo appearances of different postage stamps on every spread. None of this lovely nonsense should be surprising, as we've seen Stewart's quirky style before, in the picture book "The Adventures of a Nose," the strange story of a nose's quest for belonging. What is surprising, however, is that there is currently only one competing "Jabberwocky" book on the market: the intricate 1989 interpretation by Graeme Base, the author/illustrator of the bestselling "Animalia." 'Tis a brillig effort, to say the least. The most vorpal picture book effort in mome raths.