JACK'S FANTASTIC VOYAGE

Jack loves his grandfather's seaside house, its marvelous nautical decorations, and Grandfather's tales about his adventurous years at sea. Then doubt strikes: Grandfather has never been to sea, the other children scoff—he ``makes up stories''; even the friendly bookshop owner isn't sure whether the stories are true. That very night, Grandfather begins a story so vivid that his house sets sail, cruising the stormy waves to an icebound channel. When he awakes on a sunny morning, even Jack isn't sure that this could have been true—until he sees Grandfather chipping icicles off the roof. Familiar territory, but told with unusual sensitivity to the child's imagination—and the old man's. The lucid, tenderly evocative watercolors—whether glowing with tropical color, delicately misty, or in delectable shades of ocean blue—are a pleasure. (Picture book. 4-8)