From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3–This title combines a traditional alphabet book with a search-and-find picture puzzle. Each page is a mix of images jumbled together, and at the bottom of each page, readers are given the number of items to look for that start with a particular letter, such as 20 Ks or 8 Us. Answer keys are provided in the back of the book. Combining a variety of elements and styles, including line drawings, etchings, and paintings in one picture creates a surrealist effect, with a hippo in a hula hoop and a patch-wearing poodle painting a portrait of a parrot. It is unlikely that youngsters will find all 32 words beginning with T unless they recognize a tapir, or remember to count the 13 turquoise trees as three words. The books main drawback is the complexity of the rules for play, which cover two pages at the beginning. Fans of Walter Wicks picture-puzzle books will enjoy studying this title and may find many of the items, provided they have a firm grasp of the alphabet and a strong vocabulary.
–Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Too often alphabet books feel more like vehicles for artists' work than child-friendly offerings. This abecedarian title, by the author-illustrator of
The Ant Bully (1999) and
TV Rex (2001), avoids that trap by combining fine artwork with a fanciful hunt-and-seek game. Each wordless page features animals and objects whose names begin with a featured letter. A number indicates how many items are buried within the picture. The
L page, for example, shows a lobster browsing in a library, a ladybug pushing a lawnmower, a kitschy lamp shaped like a llama, and so on. Nickle's finely rendered scenes are imaginative, humorous, and sophisticated, and he incorporates a free-flowing range of artistic styles that adds energy to the pages. The book's object-counting game, which requires some spelling ability, seems aimed at literate, elementary-school (or older) readers, who will flip to Nickle's appended answer key, but young children just learning to identify letters and objects will also be enthralled by the fantastical groupings of images. A versatile offering with plenty of classroom application.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
