My Head in the Clouds

A trip around the world – or a voyage of imagination? Whether on the back of a broad-winged bird, under the sea in a yellow submersible or riding high in a hot air balloon, a bespectacled little girl is circling the globe, shedding her possessions along the way.

The Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful places,
was so dreamy I forgot all three suitcases.
I was so upset, to tell you the truth,
that the very next day I lost a tooth.

As the last page informs readers, there is a seek-and-find element to the book, and each missing article is somewhere in the picture where its loss is described.

Later, one of the book’s most attractive illustrative spreads shows a deeply-colored Manhattan evening skyline and the Statue of Liberty waving out of the cab window, with the accompanying text:

Over the Brooklyn Bridge, with its beeps and toots,
my mind got starry and I lost my boots.
But in the back of the taxi I hadn’t a care,
and left behind my scarf of soft goat hair.

The scarf is to be seen floating around the statue’s neck.

Unfortunately, the rhyming text is not as engaging as the bright, mixed-media illustrations. This may be a problem of translation as the book was originally published in the French language. The pictures show the main character enjoying the sight of many world landmarks. Natural wonders and historic buildings share the stage here with the eager young traveller. But the verse is awkward, rhyme is strained, and, in a few places, the lines and even the pictures are confusing. As an example:

In the deep, black waters of Loch Ness,
my mind took a wander and I forgot my address.
When I saw a Yeti trying to get a fishy bite,
my stomach floated off and I lost my appetite.

A Yeti at Loch Ness?

Then:

I mislaid my smile – imagine my surprise! –
while floating under the Bridge of Sighs.
But I soon found it again –
It came back home
when I treated myself to an ice cream cone.

High up on the two thousandth floor,
my courage went missing- I was brave no more!
When I came back down, what did I meet?
My courage, waiting for me in the street.

Here on the left-hand page the unhappy girl rides along on a Venetian canal with a singing gondolier poling the craft. The second part of the verse, and the illustration on the right, seem to refer to the Leaning Tower of Pisa which appears to have relocated itself over 400 kilometers to Venice.

The final page of the book lists a fact about each of the sites visited during the trip.

The French-Canadian author Danielle Chaperon and illustrator Josee Bisaillon both have other work to their credit, but this is not a successful effort, at least in the English translation.