MUSH’S JAZZ ADVENTURE

Pinkwater continues the adventures of Mush, the cooking, talking, and highly intelligent mushamute dog from the planet Growf-Woof-Woof. Mush is teaching his friend, the narrator Kelly, how to cook. The two friends are in the woods sharing a small picnic lunch in the park when Kelly asks Mush to tell the story of how he came to Earth. In familiar Pinkwater fashion, Mush tells the hilarious story of taking a little excursion, getting lost in the solar system, running out of gas, and crashing into Earth. Mush’s story begins to resemble the familiar story of the Bremen Town Musicians when he befriends musicians of all sorts, from a banjo-playing cat to a trombone-blaring donkey to a sweet-singing chicken. Simple line drawings inform the wild story. Readers will enjoy this light journey to the jazz clubs of Chicago, where the animals overhear a dastardly plot by men with “loud and tasteless” neckties. Generous white space surrounding the short paragraphs and a quick-moving plot make this a winner for the new reader with an off-beat sense of humor. Best of all, Mush promises many more stories to come. (Fiction. 6-9)