THE INTERRUPTED PLANS OF MANGO AND NAN

When plumbing problems thwart the plans of a young boy and his grandmother, they seek a creative solution.

Mango and Nan are about to head into town for vanilla ice cream cones when they hear the plopping sound of a leaky faucet. Nan tells Mango that they’ll have to stay home and fix the drip: “We can’t let water go to waste. It’s not good for the planet.” What follows is a convoluted storyline in which Mango suggests fastening a fantastically long hose to the faucet so that it will retain all the drips (“Not a plop will go to waste,” declares Nan); the two of them hold the nozzle and let the hose snake behind them as they walk into town, sharing their water with those they encounter. They water their neighbors’ hedges, top off the swimming pool, and cool down hot sunbathers—all of which betrays the story’s internal logic by compromising Nan’s water-conservation ethos. Water pressure builds, and the pair soon lose control of the hose. They lament the wasted water, but when the skies open up, they “celebrate having made rainplops for all the town’s trees”—a confusing moment, given that Mango and Nan aren’t responsible for the downpour. Humorous illustrations outshine the text, with playful details and a great sense of movement. Mango and Nan are light-skinned; their community is diverse.

Fun to look at but hard to follow.