LITTLE DEVIL'S A B C; LITTLE DEVIL'S 1 2 3

by Frank Asch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 12, 1980

The first of these two playful novelties is an alphabet-cum-joke book, with one cartoon per letter. Under ""B b Branch,"" Little Devil, sawing on a tree limb, promises ""I'll be right down after I finish cutting this branch""--and readers see that he will indeed soon cut himself down. ""That fish certainly is fresh,"" he remarks for ""F f"" when the one in a ""Fresh Fish"" store sticks its tongue out at him. And under ""R r"" for ""Riddle,"" Little Devil is shown stumped by the question ""What has horns and a pointed tail and is red all over?"" (Actually, the little devil in this picture is pink, and he and/or his clones turn up elsewhere in blue, green, or yellow top to toe.) More plays on the letters are doodled into those that head the pages, and the numerals in the companion counting book are filled with Asch's typically blobby flora, fauna, and free-wheeling gags. On top of the numerals a corresponding number of acrobatic devils pile up, so that we start with one devil on the top of ""1"" and by the time we get to 20 that many devils are disporting on top of the ""2' and the ""0."" With bits of monkey business accompanying the accumulation-devils poke each other with pitchforks, pull tails, blow bubbles, catch musical notes with a net-it's too distracting to learn on, though a diverting enough performance to flip through a time or two. Marginal.

Pub Date: Nov. 12, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1980

Categories: CHILDREN'S