From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-This is an alphabet book with attitude. The main character, an oddly shaped man with an inordinately large head, delivers the goods with a clip and rhythm reminiscent of Yo Yes! (Orchard, 1993). He travels through the book on a velocipede with a cat in his front basket. After asking, "How are you?" he implores, "Talk to me about the alphabet." And admonishes, "Don't give me numbers. Don't give me 1, 2, 3." With a cheerleading tone, "Give me letters! Give me ABC!" Young readers can follow a pattern, enthusiastically identifying the letter, at least through the first four. Initially, a page is devoted to each letter, its sound, and a word beginning with it. But after "D," the pattern dissolves and the rhythm picks up with as many as three letters sharing a page. Curiously, midway through, the man speaks in French with "Bonjour," and concludes in German with "Auf Wiedersehen." As an alphabet book, this title's use is limited by the lack of controlled vocabulary and pattern necessary for emerging readers. The strength of the book lies in the vibrancy of the rhythmic text and in the ink-and-watercolor illustrations. The cozy, dreamy scene of man and feline on the restful P, Q, R page is Raschka the illustrator at his best.
Marian Creamer, Children's Literature Alive, Portland, ORCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
PreS-Gr. 1. Raschka, never conventional, offers an alphabet book that catches the attention. A round guy in a big coat and a small hat, with his yellow cat and his velocipede (an old word for a bicycle), takes the stage and begins a rap, "Don't give me numbers. / Don't give me 1, 2, 3. / Give me letters! / Give me A B C!" The man proceeds with a frenzied monologue that focuses on letter sounds: "B is for Bossy. Bah, bah, bah . . . M is for Milk. Mmmmmmmm.
Mine!" Sometimes the letter stands for a thing: K is for Kangaroo and L for Lion; sometimes the sound's the thing, like all the different "ow" and "oooo" sounds. The refrain, "Good Morning," is repeated here and there, once in French, and there's a German farewell. Raschka works in splotches of watercolor and agitated ink line to highlight the energy of the text. Quirky and satisfying.
GraceAnne DeCandidoCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
