EVANGELINE MUDD AND THE GOLDEN-HAIRED APES OF THE IKKINASTI JUNGLE
by David Elliott
illustrated by Andrea Wesson
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 0763618764
Ages 7-10
208 pages

Evangeline Mudd might possibly be the luckiest girl in the world. After all, how many kids have parents who encourage them to swing from the dining room chandeliers or eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with their feet?

Evangeline's parents, Merriweather and Magdelana Mudd, are not your typical mother and father. The Mudds are primatologists --- people who study apes and monkeys --- and their specialty is the golden-haired apes of the Ikkinasti Jungle. The Mudds are impressed by the fun-loving and harmonious way of life the golden-haired apes follow and decide to raise their own daughter Evangeline the same way --- with a few exceptions like playing the piano.

The Mudds are as happy as can be living in their New England bungalow until a phone call from Dr. Aphrodite Pikkaflee changes everything. Dr. Pikkaflee is the most famous primatologist in the world and she needs help. A new family of golden-haired apes was discovered in the Ikkinasti Jungle and the Mudds are needed to observe them for two weeks --- without Evangeline.

The Ikkinasti Jungle is a dangerous place to bring a nine-year-old like Evangeline. There are wormy things that crawl between your toes and enter directly into your bloodstream. There are mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds. And worst of all, there are giant spitting spiders whose spit can blind you!

Instead of exploring the Ikkinasti Jungle with her parents, Evangeline has to stay with her father's awful third cousin twice removed and his ex-ballerina wife. She can't wait until the two weeks are over. But then her parents mysteriously disappear, and it's up to Evangeline to travel to the Ikkinasti Jungle and find them.

David Elliot's EVANGELINE MUDD AND THE GOLDEN-HAIRED APES OF THE IKKINASTI JUNGLE is adventure-packed, funny and fast-paced. Elliot's conversational writing style will remind readers of authors like Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl. Andrea Wesson's black-and-white illustrations throughout the book also compliment the fun-filled flavor. Readers will fall in love with the courageous heroine Evangeline. Will we be seeing her in a sequel? I hope so!

   --- Reviewed by Kristi Olson

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