Effervescent Rosy has been eagerly looking forward to giving her country mouse cousin, Duncan, the Big Apple adventure tour of a lifetime, packed with every tourist landmark imaginable. So she’s horrified when a pale fearful child “with a barf bucket around his neck” and strict instructions from his mother to “avoid strange foods that could be . . . full of unknown ingredients” emerges from the airplane. Not one to be daunted by a lack of enthusiasm, Rosy plunges ahead with her busy agenda, but plan after plan is derailed. As Rosy becomes increasingly frustrated, Duncan loosens up, playing his harmonica on the street, trying exotic foods, and getting into what he calls “Hot Pot New York,” a rich broth of people from different cultures who each add their own unique spice to the mix. Greenwald, who also provides humorous line illustrations, delivers her message with a light comic touch that younger readers are sure to enjoy. (Fiction. 7-10)
