THE TYGER VOYAGE
by Richard Adams illustrated by Nicola Bayley
Though their spoofy intent doesn't entirely redeem the stultifying preciosity of Bayley's fussy Victorian interiors and surreal landscapes, the paintings do complement Adams' mock-heroic rhymed tale of the human narrator's "tyger" neighbors, Ezekiel and Raphael Dubb. Much to the consternation of the narrator's father, the Dubbs go off in a boat, land on a jungle island, climb a mountain that erupts while they're on it, are healed by a band of gypsies whom they join in their travels, and are at last found and sent home by "father." There's not a snag or a hint of strain in Adams' old-style verse and tongue-in-cheek decorum, but we found the whole performance as inconsequential as it is impeccable.