The True Account

May 5, 2003
Yet another novel that anticipates the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark's expedition, this clever account by Mosher (A Stranger in the Kingdom, etc.) breaks with form, to hilarious effect. Private True Teague Kinneson, a Vermont schoolteacher and inventor, writes to Jefferson to recommend himself for the expedition to the Pacific. When Jefferson announces that he's already appointed Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, True, with his teenage nephew, Ticonderoga, in tow, heads West anyway, determined to reach the Pacific first. Ticonderoga narrates their adventures, describing with a straight face the schemes of his daffy uncle. True is an odd duck, strutting around in a chain-mail vest, an Elizabethan codpiece and a red cloth cap with a bell attached. The cap covers a copper helmet that protects his skull, which was injured, he improbably claims, during his tenure with Ethan Allen's regiment at Fort Ticonderoga. He also gleefully indulges a daily cannabis habit, which perhaps accounts for some of the above eccentricities. As the pair travel to Monticello and points west, they come across all manner of outlandish characters: Daniel Boone's sexpot daughter, Danielle; an angry badger; and many Indian tribes, friendly and not. Meanwhile, Ti lovingly paints his experiences onto canvas, True corresponds with the Kinneson clan back in Vermont and the pair keep in touch with their rivals, Lewis and Clark. Fun and fanciful with much to savor, Mosher's novel demonstrates a boundless imagination and a light comic touch. Bicentennial promotion;
author tour.

July 7, 2003
This upbeat book may well help adults prove to youngsters the importance of memorizing their addresses and phone numbers. Lambert (creator of Martha's Attic
for HBO) and Duke (One Guinea Pig Is Not Enough) employ the example of a fetching, green-and-pink dragon named Horatio Horndragon. At school, when Miss Scaley asks the class to write their names, addresses and telephone numbers, Horatio doodles instead, reasoning, "But I won't get lost!... Not now or ever!" He does, of course, but the scenario is neither too frightening nor too sugar-coated. First, a beady-eyed creature beneath a rock offers to help. Then Officer Flash of the Forest Patrol (a wacky, non-threatening bird sporting inline skates and a propeller hat) aids a tearful Horatio. Joyfully returned, the hero quickly learns his vital statistics and earns his parents' praise. Although the message drives the tale, Duke injects some fun details into the proceedings: a dragon- flavored breakfast scene, for instance, features "Fang" juice drink, burnt toast and "Cocoal Puffs" served on a claw-footed (literally) table. With Horatio's experience as cautionary tale, children can practice writing their own information on a fill-in-the-blank page in the back. Ages 3-7.