Review by Kirkus Book Review
Anchors aweigh, play-mateys! Raymundo's metanarrative opens with Captain Herman and avian first mate Mr. Plume in hot pursuit of their titular pal; Moby Duck proves a worthy adversary in a game of nautical hide and seek, and besting him won't be an easy feat. But readers anticipating an immersive, swashbuckling epic will find those expectations soon subverted when a shift in perspective reveals that the seemingly open seas are actually confined to a porcelain tub, and these sailors are really bath toys at the destructive mercy of a sudsy, light-skinned tot, who's a stand-in for (and doppelgänger for) Captain Herman; the title character is a cheery-looking rubber ducky. The brief tableaux that follow offer more punny patchwork than plot, introducing (and quickly resolving) trials like the Forest of Eye-Stinging Bubbles and the Wall of FAH-SET. Herman alternatively appears as intrepid mariner and splashy bather, at once the cause of and good-natured victim of imaginative chaos. And juvenile Melville-heads need not fret--the infamous whale winked at throughout makes an appearance, too. Raymundo is at his best when realizing moments of chuckle-inducing self-awareness--of which there are many--but while his premise is strong, his execution is somewhat stymied by uneven pacing. This flaw is forgivable, given the narrative's mimicry of imaginative bathtime play, but it yields a less satisfying conclusion than more traditional adventure narratives. Nonetheless, hesitant bathers will appreciate the creative inspiration. A buoyant seafaring escapade.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
