THERE’S A DOLPHIN IN THE GRAND CANAL

Lonely and bored, Luca would love to play outside in the summer sun rather than help run the family café in Venice. Grateful to leave early one afternoon, he walks toward the Grand Canal to find hordes of tourists crowding St. Mark’s Square. Missing his wintertime playmates who are on vacation, Luca laments his predicament as he sits along the steps of the canal. Suddenly, he’s surprised by the unlikely appearance of a dolphin. Angered and embarrassed when the dolphin hides from his unbelieving and less than amused parents, Luca falls into the canal in a moment of heated ranting, lands on the submerged dolphin’s back and takes off on a wild, adventurous romp through the city of waterways as dolphin and boy leap over and under bridges, gondolas, hanging laundry and astonished onlookers. Marciano, grandson of the famous creator of the Madeleine books, has embedded choice Italian phrases within his colorfully painted scenes of Venice, adding to the ambiance and symbolic flavor of the city and its residents. Imaginative and playful. (glossary, author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)