Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Sir Reginalds Logbook
Picture Book
For ages 7 to 9
Kids Can Press, Ltd., 2008 ISBN: 978-1554532025
Sir Reginald is about to begin a dangerous quest to find "the legendary Lost Tablet of Illusion." He knows full well that the quest will be perilous one because the jungle is full of terrible dangers but he does not fear for his safety.
And so the journey begins. Sir Reginald is woken up by the sound of the Carnivorous Elephant Beetle buzzing loudly. Thankfully the creature disappears into the jungle and leaves Sir Reginald alone. And so the intrepid explorer goes deeper and deeper into the jungle until he comes to the "resting place" of the Lost Tablet. But when he arrives he discovers that someone, or rather something, has stolen the tablet. Sir Reginald sees that a trail of enormous footprints leads away from the place where the Lost Tablet used to lie. Unfazed, Sir Reginald sets off in pursuit. Will he be able to get the Lost tablet back without losing all that he holds dear?
In this wonderfully funny picture book the author shows his readers how the search for the most mundane of things can be turned into an adventure. We begin by seeing Sir Reginald in a jungle surrounded by huge trees and terrifying creatures, but when we turn the page we see Sir Reginald (drawn in black and white) sitting in bed in an ordinary house. As the story unfolds we come to see that in actual fact the man in his bedclothes carrying a plunger is the real Sir Reginald. The full color, larger than life Sir Reginald who battles monsters in the jungle, is his imagined, heroic self. Readers will have a good laugh as they see the two versions of Sir Reginald on their quests: the imagined one who battles huge man eating beasts, and the real one who gets tangled up in power cords and is accosted by a cookie toting Girl Scout.
