FORTUNATELY, UNFORTUNATELY

Answering the longstanding need for an alternative to Remy Charlip’s classic but now-creaky Fortunately (1964), Foreman reworks the titular dichotomy into a young chimp’s adventuresome delivery of an umbrella to his grandma’s house. "Fortunately, it was a lovely day and Milo liked going to Granny's house because she always had cake... / Unfortunately, a dark cloud appeared and it soon began to rain...  / Fortunately, he had Granny's umbrella..." That umbrella shows great utility not only in the sudden rainstorm, but when there’s a pirate captain and a set of giant hostile aliens to poke on the way past an erupting volcano, dinosaurs and other hazards—all depicted with luminous watercolors in big, comical scenes. There’s so much action that monotony is never really a danger, which renders occasional breaks in the titular pattern unnecessary (“ ‘Please don’t pop us! Please don’t pop us!’ squeaked the huge aliens”). Still, it's a fresh and welcome alternative to a perennial crowd pleaser that has become a period piece. (Picture book. 5-8)