It was a big day -- the first time Ollie was going to be allowed to cross the road and go to the store by himself. His mother warns him about not talking to anyone and looking and listening before crossing the road. Ollie himself knows he shouldn't walk on the cracks or the bears will get him, but his mother says that's only in stories. Yet on the way Ollie has to scare or outwit a monster, a ghost, a witch, bears, and aliens. He gets back home safely, reassuring his mother that he did everything she had said. "I told you to trust me, Mom. I CAN look after myself."

Reminds me of John Burningham's The Shopping Basket ( )

Totally surreal. I like it. The text presents really odd goings-on in a matter-of-fact way, and the illustrations are a little nutty with plenty of stuff to find. I've seen other work by this author and this illustrator, and they both seem to me to be in the class of "interesting but not first-rate." ( )