HOSIE'S ALPHABET

by Leonard -- Illus. Baskin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30, 1972

The Baskin family bestiary gets off to a euphonious start with the ""armadillo -- belted and amazonian"" and the ""bumptious baboon,"" and scores its greatest triumph with that bete noir of abecedaria -- ""X the dragon of the alphabet."" The insidious charms of the ""gangly entangling spider,"" the ""primordial protozoa"" and the blueish green ""eight-tentacled octopus"" rate limpid, soft-toned water colors and ""Hosie's heron"" and the ""invisible unicorn"" float ethereally against blue and violet backgrounds. But for the most part, these are characteristically vigorous nightmares -- the ""rhinocerous express"" charges straight out of the page, the ""carrion crow"" exults in anthropomorphic glory and the ""imperious eagle spangled and splendid"" unfurls his furiously graygreen wings over a double page spread with an almost audible shriek. Twenty-six letters hardly begin to tap Baskin's fecund imagination -- we only wish there were more.

Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1972

Categories: CHILDREN'S