SWEENY'S ADVENTURE

This story is an told by John Kieran in the film Sweeney Steps Out. The boy is a tough one of six who leaves home in order to avoid his father's reprimand and wanders off into the Bronx Zoo, where in the early morning hours the animals all seem to be at large. The general moral presumably lies in the fact that Sweeney learns real courage when he rescues his pull-toy elephant (what boy of six still pulls creatures on wheels?) and later when he decides to go home to face the music. The book neither rings true nor has it enough charm to be a delightful fantasy. Young readers around New York will realize that the Bronx is a part of their city, but will many others? Do elephants roar? Maybe we are being petty and querulous in the best but to us there seems a lot to be desired in this effort.