Fortunately, Unfortunately

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JAN 17, 2011

An innocuous errand delivering an umbrella to his grandmother turns into a riotous adventure for Milo, a monkey pictured wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers. Vibrant watercolors by two-time Kate Greenaway Medal winner Foreman playfully portray Milo's outlandish reversals of fortune, beginning with a raincloud darkening a sunny sky: "Fortunately, he had Granny's umbrella... Unfortunately, he didn't look where he was going." Milo steps off a cliff and falls into the mouth of a whale, which precipitates a chain of events that brings him face-to-face with unfriendly pirates, wild dinosaurs, and two species of aliens. The rainbow-colored umbrella repeatedly comes to his rescue, serving as a parachute, boat, and sword. It appears life will return to normal when Milo finally arrives at Granny's house, but what spills out of the umbrella suggests otherwise. The repeated use of the two title words perhaps an homage to Remy Charlip's 1964 picture book Fortunately, which used the same two words the same way creates a seesaw effect that encourages chiming in, and the jaunty art adds laughs. Ages 4 9.