SERIOUS TROUBLE

Another perceptive, deceptively cartoonish tale from Howard. Despite his portentous name, young Ernest confounds his serious-minded royal parents by declaring that he only wants to be a court jester—an ambition that ultimately stands him in good stead during an encounter with a dour three-headed dragon. Given “two chances, or maybe three” to make the monster’s heads laugh, or become a snack, Ernest comes through in the clutch despite the unusually tough audience—“We haven’t laughed in a thousand years”—and returns to the palace in triumph. Does he then change his ways? Howard gives readers two chances to decide, “. . . or maybe three.” Tucking plenty of wordplay into the brief text to complement his playful, loosely drawn illustrations, Howard produces another child-friendly episode, this one with an underlying message about parental expectations and being allowed to be one’s own fool. (Picture book. 5-7)