SUNDAY LOVE

Tipping her hat to the old riddle theme “black and white and red all over,” Paul supplies an action-packed story that founders in visual chaos. The simple, exciting plot has a black-and-white–clad robber busting out of jail and causing merry bedlam. Desolate about his prison food and mooning over a snapshot that readers can’t see, he tunnels out of the big house and races—ball and chain no hindrance, apparently—through a soccer field, village and bullfighting arena, pursued by old-fashioned constables, nuns and a cupid. The action’s a free-for-all, turning everything topsy-turvy, though the convict eventually lands back in jail (with a surprise perk). The pen-and-ink–and-watercolor illustrations use a comic-book structure but suffer from mediocre representation and a lack of visual gesture, rendering plot details oddly difficult to follow, especially without textual narration (words are limited, comic-style: Thwack! Crash! Halt!). This is a forgettable young cousin of David Macaulay’s brilliant postmodern Black and White, without that classic’s depth and artistry. (Picture book. 4-6)