"Following in the footsteps of Beowulf and Gilgamesh, our hero Lucius stands against the monstrous black cloud that threatens to ruin the rest of summer vacation. This epic struggle sees our hero fall beaten into a puddle only to rise and, with the aid of the flame in the tall Smoking Stack, conquer the cloud. Children will revel in this epic tale that turns the ordinary into the fantastic. As in the lays of old, the tale is told in rhyme offering children the satisfaction of heroic victory." -ChildrensPictureBook.info Review (May 2007)