WILDFLOWERS

Three girls whose plane crash-lands on an island have an extraordinary adventure.

Argentine American cartoonist Liniers applies both conventions of magical realism and a keen understanding of how children’s minds work to this weird and wonderful story. It opens cinematically, gradually revealing the plane at an angle, nose buried in trees, and a line of speech-bubble dialogue emanating from the margin: “Where are we?” In answer, on the next page, the tallest of three White girls says, “There was a terrible plane crash…and now we’re stranded on a mysterious island with a jungle.” The girls are obviously unhurt, so readers can relax and enjoy the protagonists’ explorations. They find some “exotic” wildflowers (“What does eck-sto-tick mean?” asks the youngest), one of which remarks that the girls are “the strangest wildflower[s it’s] ever seen”; a sign that reads “Only Reality Can Kill a Dragon”; a tiny house inhabited by a miniature gorilla; and, of course, a dragon. It appears that dragons eat only wildflowers, and since the girls are wildflowers…“AAA!!!” Alas, that sign was only too accurate, however, and when an adult voice summons the girls to dinner, the island is reduced to an ordinary backyard and its inhabitants to toys. Readers who’ve had similar adventures will happily immerse themselves in this one, Liniers’ careful lines, limpid colors, and graphic-panel framing creating a reality that honors children’s imaginations. The book is available in two trim sizes: a standard 6-by-9-inch early-reader trim and a 7.5-by-11-inch “gift edition.”

Like children’s backyard play, sheer delight.