MIDSUMMER KNIGHT

Another wordless, briskly paced escapade with a Shakespearean flavor (and cast) from the author of The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard (2004). Taking up where the previous episode leaves off, the action begins when a bear, dressed in a cape and morion, dashes through a door at the base of a huge tree, and finds himself in a fairy community that is being despoiled by a wasp-winged thug who bears a remarkable resemblance to a certain well-known playwright. Cast into the dungeon where the King and his red-haired Queen are being held, the bear engineers a breakout, and the stage is set for some colorful swordplay, much running about and a final setting-to-rights. Told as before in crowded but large and easy-to-follow sequential panels, the tale will delight even readers who don’t catch all of the Elizabethan references. (Picture book. 6-9)