Piece out

In the long-standing tradition of toys having lives of their own, a red playing piece embarks on an adventure to return home after accidentally being left out of its game box. Bright, humorous cartoon illustrations will draw readers' interest immediately, and Willan clearly understands how to appeal to his young audience. Red braves the loud, hungry robot (the vacuum cleaner), finds the cave under the couch, or S.O.F.A. ("Safety Offered For All"), and even survives a brief banishment to the dreaded junk drawer. Red puts together a paper-clip ladder to escape and continue the quest to reach its goal. The fun-loving family has a tradition of Friday game nights, and Red does not want to miss out. The lighthearted text employs several game-related puns, and Red's survival gear adds visual humor as well. Finally scaling the mountainous shelf to successfully return to the game box, Red is anxious to tell best friend Yellow about the ordeal. Wait--now Yellow is missing? Is a sequel in the works?

A fugitive game board piece undertakes the scary trek back to the storage box--all the way across the house. After being left on the floor at the end of Friday Game Night, Red decides the safest option is just to wait patiently. The next morning, a roaring vacuum monster attacks. One narrow escape later, fueled by a new determination to get back home, Red sets out on an arduous journey, though the way is long, and hazards ranging from terrifying canine beast Lady Flufferton to wads of sticky chewing gum await. Still, the stick-limbed plastic mite displays outsize measures of courage and resourcefulness--not even being snatched up and chucked into the feared junk drawer signals a "game over" for our hero. By the time the next Friday Game Night rolls around, Red is back home in the storage box, not only regaling the other game pieces with tales of "dicey" adventures, but ready for more of the same. Dramatic narration brings to life Red's near misses and brushes with danger. Willan provides a floor map with thrillingly labeled features like the "Smelly Hillsides" (a shoe rack) and the "Rectangular Sea" (an aquarium) so that fellow travelers can retrace the route; he depicts a diversely hued family of human gamers having a blast around a simple board. A rousing Toy Story--style odyssey.(Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.