FEELING GOOD!

Everyone’s favorite cranium crew returns with more tales of utterly strange sweetness.

As in Campbell’s Cabin Head and Tree Head (2025), the title characters—denizens of a universe filled with creatures sporting various objects on their noggins—appear in six brief stories and three supplemental mini-tales. “Alone Times” may remind readers of an old Frog and Toad tale: Cabin Head needs solitude, despite Tree Head’s wishes. “Workouts” sees the friends becoming buff through exercise, then deciding to “practice being gentle” for a “healthy balance.” The sole fly in the ointment may be “Trophies,” in which Tree Head discovers Cabin Head’s cabinet of self-awarded prizes, bestowed for a variety of “accomplishments” such as eating a sandwich and whistling. Alas, the tale peters out without revealing much of a point, but it doesn’t detract from this otherwise sterling collection that replicates the magic of the first book. Once again, Campbell employs colorful, highly detailed, watercolors; happily, he’s devised several inventive new “heads,” among them the Wave Heads, who threaten the Sandcastle Heads; the Cloud Heads, whom our heroes observe in the sky; and Piñata Head, who is understandably reluctant to attend parties.

A head-y mix of old-fashioned charm and unpredictable creativity results in a wonderful return to a wholly unique world.