THE DESPERATE ADVENTURES OF SIR RUPERT AND ROSIE GUSSET

@500s, this tale includes pirates, sea journeys, and high adventure. Hypochondriac Sir Rupert Gussett exits retirement to make a final journey to procure potatoes for the queen. Ten-year-old daughter Rosie stows away, then turns out to be an able deckhand and the ship's brains when pirates threaten. BBC pre-school television performer Nigel Lambert reads rapidly, handling characters' voices deftly. He sounds whiny as the queen and intimidating as the female pirate. The deadpan delivery of such lines as "I only went to get away from your mother's nagging" make this a funny story. A.G.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 01]