A BEWITCHING BOOK

A labyrinthine lexicon challenges readers in Berg’s alliterative alphabet book.

A child with stark white skin, black hair clipped back in a skull bow, opens the pages of an eerie alphabet book. The child appears on each page, typically peering in from the corner, occasionally interacting with the depicted characters. The surreal appearance of the child’s big, glowing, pupilless eyes make Barrett’s character design reminiscent of an Edward Gorey etching. The illustrator also references William Steig’s Shrek on the page on which “oreopithecus … officiate overwrought owls obstreperously overseeing ogres offering oranges.” Each page is just as much a mouthful; the author offers a full seven-page glossary, because so many of the vocabulary words chosen will require looking up, even by most adult readers. Luckily, the meaning doesn’t seem to be the point here—all of the sentences are silly, even if they are correctly structured, and the illustrations are jam-packed with gross and spooky details (Jack-o-lanterns are frequently depicted losing their innards, and invisible imps torment a pair of children, even setting one’s pants on fire). These details are sure to please the gross-out crowd, and the fun of saying the strange words aloud makes up for the lack of punctuation and the obtuse meanings.

Fun for families looking to add big, weird words to a young reader’s vocabulary.