Next Stop—Zanzibar Road! (review)

As in Daly's previous title about the residents of Zanzibar Road (Welcome to Zanzibar Road), five short chapters follow elephant Mama Jumbo and her chicken son Little Chico, as Mama haggles vendors at the market near her African village, fixes a taxi with some bubble gum and her trunk, makes Chico a handsome little shirt, and eventually puts her son to bed after a busy day. There's really not much action here, but the events are colorfully and engagingly described and Daly evokes a nicely specific sense of place even if the location given ("Africa") is vague. Daly's storytelling voice is invitingly colloquial ("The market was busy, busy! But that was fine, because Mama Jumbo really LOVED a loud, busy market") and Mama Jumbo and Little Chico are both amusing and endearing. The art (line and watercolor touched with digital washes of color) is equally energetic but tempered by plenty of white space, keeping the compositions detailed but not cluttered; the spread of the market scene is particularly absorbing. The pleasantly plump Mama Jumbo, with her patterned dress and red "pom pom hat," is clearly a unique individual, as is every member of the animal cast. Fans of Daly's first Zanzibar Road title will find more to love here.