A little teacup falls into the wild sea one rough day, sinking like a stone until the advent of a friend, in the form of a little rubber ducky, with whom he sails off, on adventure bound. Together they practically circumnavigate the globe, encountering things wonderful, funny and scary, before they eventually find their way home...

This picture-book depiction of an imaginative bath-time adventure features the lovely illustrations of Korean expatriate artist Il Sung Na, whose work has been a favourite since I first encountered it in the gorgeous bedtime title, A Book of Sleep. As always with Na's work, many of the little details - the significant words ("new friend," "strong wind") on the sheet of paper used to create a boat for the teacup and ducky, the tiny Korean flag atop the sailing ship the seafaring companions encounter - add depth and visual interest to the page. The conclusion of the tale, in which it is revealed that the entire adventure has occurred within the confines of a bathtub, is signalled midway through the book, when the teacup and ducky encounter a huge grinning cat taking a swipe at them, with pink tiles in the background. That said, the narrative itself maintains the fiction of the rough sea-voyage, and no child appears in any of the illustrations, perhaps allowing the young reader (or listener) to insert herself into the tale, as the invisible architect of it all. Recommended to younger children who enjoy splashing about with their toys in the bath, and to fans of Il Sung Na's artwork. ( )