So... I'm not really sure what to make of this book. Mr. Fooster decides to go for a walk one day, and ponders questions such as How do mandarin oranges come in perfect little segments without any mechanical engineering? and How come we never see baby pigeons? while he's walking. He then decides to sit for a spell, and blows a bubble with a wand which becomes a car that he drives home, and then decides to sell on eBay and give the proceeds to his favorite charity.

That's chapter one.

Huh? (You probably have this same expression on your face right now). Yeah, I felt the same way.

I think the book is supposed to be about how you shouldn't take yourself too seriously and ponder the little things in life, and in doing this, you won't be tied down to your boring, overly-serious earthly existence (ask the bug who was eating his way across the world, discovered his folly through the bubble blowing magic of Mr. Fooster and floated off into space and ended up somewhere around Alpha Centauri - no kidding. What's in those bubbles, and did Mr. Fooster get it from Alice's Caterpillar?).

Maybe I'm too tired from an entire day spent at the hospital so my mom could have a 20 minute hand surgery, but the book seemed to be aiming at being clever and introspective, but seemed to miss the mark just a little.

The illustrations were nice. In fact, I was more interested in the graphic design elements used in the book's construction that were mentioned in the back of the book.

I don't know what rating to give it either. It's not bad, but it isn't anything note worthy either. Hence, 3(ish) stars. I guess that's somewhere around the middle. ( )

Rather than starting this review with a summary of the plot I will be starting with a summary of the physical book itself. This is a small hardcover book, dimensionally just a bit smaller than the size of a trade paperback. The cover has a matte finish yet the bubble is raised and glossy. I found myself touching the bubble on the cover numerous times. Also on the cover we see the words "A Visual Novel" and after looking at the copyright page I see the LCC have catalogued it as a "graphic novel". Upon browsing through the book I would say it looks like a child's picture book with text on one side and an illustration on the other for each two page spread. This is not a children's book, though. It is a book for adults and I think the publishing industry is going to have to come up with some new names for this emerging genre of books that are for adult readers and yet combine text and illustration though not in the typical comic format of a graphic novel.

The story is about Mr. Fooster who likes to go for walks. In his pocket he carries a bottle of children's bubbles. As he walks around he always asks himself questions such as "Who figured out how to eat artichokes?" and "How come we never see baby pigeons?". It is hard to describe the story but at first magical realism surrounds the events, then the story takes on a fairy tale aspect and finally becomes a fable. The pen and ink drawings are superb. They add a magical, whimsical feel that the text alone could not purvey. This is a tale full of whimsy with a clear message for adults to never loose their imagination, not to let their lives stand still rooting themselves to one spot and not to forget that the little things in life do matter. A very sweet story and yet, slightly Kafkaesque as reality becomes blurred and Mr. Fooster comes to an unfortunate situation. But, in the end, all ends well and I can see this as a perfect gift book for those who enjoy fantasy and/or fairy tales. ( )

In this slim volume you will find the eye opening story of Mr. Fooster's travels. He goes for walks with seemingly no purpose but to see what he will see. Along the way he has interesting and surprising encounters and makes good use of his old bottle of bubble soap.

The author has written a lovely tale that encourages adults to think outside the box and try to remember the wonder and imagination that we had as children. As we grow up we forget to stop and really look at things and we forget to ask questions. In so doing, we miss opportunities that we might have had, were we more open-minded.

The lyric prose is accompanied by Craig Frazier's lovely sepia toned pen and ink illustrations that enhance the story. You can see Mr. Fooster brought to life at the website (http://www.mrfooster.com/) ! ( )

http://www.book-blog.com/2008/03/corw... ( )