Mokie and Bik Go to Sea by Wendy Orr, illustrated by Jonathan Bean (Henry Holt & Co 2010)

Mokie and Bik are twins who live on a ship called the Bullfrog. There are so many interesting places to visit on board, like the rope ladders, the kitchen, the engine room, etc. It’s no wonder the kids hear, “Get out from underfoot,” from everybody. And they do, but they in the water after their dog falls in. The author loves to make up words, like “Mokie swished her net through a cloud of tiny fisk, but the fisk all swicked away.” There’s a place in literature for made up words, but an easy reader probably isn’t the best place for beginners to decode them. The adventures are tame. The best thing about this book is the fabulous, imaginative black and white drawings. There’s plenty of action in story and pictures, but  action does not hold the story together.

J Fiction, Not Recommended—Lillian Hecker (PEL)