John Ryan (1) (1921–2009)

Pleasant, but there's not a lot there for the discerning adult reader (I'm a discerning adult reader). It's fine--it's a 3. The drawings are enjoyable (without being "you should buy it for the illustrations alone!" caliber), the tale straightforwardly-told, but it's really not all that much more exciting than something you might whip up for tired children on a row boat ride out of your imagination (unless you're Lewis Carroll, who did rather amazing things off the top of his head).

The viewpoint character, Tom, does pretty much what any of us would do and no more. There's no moral lesson (other than be careful with your tools and use them correctly). It's entertaining for five minutes, and then it's over.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!… (meer)