POP!

On a beautiful day, Dewey sits under a shady tree, blowing bubbles by himself. “The best part of blowing bubbles is popping them,” he declares.

One bubble gets away, and Dewey decides to give chase. As the bubble floats away, Dewey first jumps, then clambers to the top of a jungle gym and then to the rooftop in an effort to catch the errant bubble. His quest takes him to the top of a skyscraper, then into a hot air balloon, and then onto a helicopter, then a biplane, then a zooming F-16; not high enough! He’ll never be able to catch it, unless…yes! It’s the day of the moon launch, and Dewey hitches a ride on a rocket, landing on the moon. In his spacesuit, the lack of gravity allows him to reach high, but the bubble remains just out of reach. Defeated, he returns home. It’s bedtime, but Dewey can’t resist one last look through his telescope—which yields a big surprise. Eaton and Rockefeller introduce readers to various forms of transportation with Dewey’s mad dash. Graphic panels speed readers through the story, but, rather like a bubble, it’s ultimately insubstantial. Dewey has olive skin and black hair, and among the aviators he encounters are a confident older black man and a young white woman.

A swift and breathless tour.