Adventures for breakfast

An improbable adventure helps pajama-clad siblings Luna and Milo avoid eating the oatmeal that their grandmother serves every morning. They leave a polite letter that explains that they can't come to the breakfast table because a terrible flood swept them out to sea. They landed in a jungle, traveled through underground tunnels, flew in a hot air balloon, ended up in a desert, and floated down a river. After they hid in a bear's belly, the bear spat them into outer space, where they befriended a dragon. The children's toys--seen grouped around the table early on--become props in their rich imaginings. In case we miss what an amazing adventure this is, almost every sentence ends with an exclamation point. Emotions--horror, fear, and excitement--show clearly on the children's faces, and the story is heavy on humor and exaggeration. Even the cartoon faces on the planets register alarm when the bear "spat us out into outer space! But we were not scared at all!" Some of the language is somewhat stilted ("They, however, prefer for every day to start with an adventure. And so they thought up a solution"). In other places, the language is rich and evocative: "The sun almost cooked us like bacon and scorpions hunted our legs!" Bursting with movement, the playful pictures expand the story with details not mentioned in the text. Both children are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Not likely to sell much oatmeal but certain to make young kids laugh. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.