TED

A more-or-less imaginary friend brings a lonely boy and his distracted father together in this heavy-handed but slapstick romp from the author/illustrator of Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-This-World Moon Pie Adventure (2000). Looking like a cross between a flop-eared John Goodman and Jabba the Hut, Ted saunters into the unnamed young narrator's life, and proceeds to instigate more chaos than the Cat in the Hat ever dreamed of. After helping to spatter the bathroom with shaving cream, "illustrate" the living-room walls, and create an indoor swimming pool in the study, Ted retreats from Dad's wrath to a nearby playground. The boy soon follows, to wonder why grownups have forgotten to have fun, and to learn that Ted was his father's playmate too, years ago. In due time, Dad shows up, and with the help of an old toy dredges up half-forgotten memories—after which all go back home for "one mean game of space-pirates-Monopoly-Twister!" Owing equal debts to Norman Rockwell and Mad Magazine, DiTerlizzi's polished, carefully detailed illustrations feature nerdy-looking humans and wild swirls of domestic disaster, with Ted, invisible to Dad but looking just as solid and real, mugging hugely and providing a mottled, pink focal point. It's not exactly subtle, but children may find its exaggerations appealing. (Picture book. 7-9)