TALK TO ME ABOUT THE ALPHABET

Phonics with a difference. Mixing sense and sound in ways reminiscent of his several tributes to jazz greats, Raschka (Be Boy Buzz, 2002, etc.) cajoles readers into a sonic give-and-take as he—or rather, a gent in a brown suit and homburg, with a cat, a motorized “velocipede,” and a few other props—tells off the letters. “Give me A is for Attitude that often says ‘Ah’. Give me B is for Bossy. Bah, bah, bah.” His freely brushed figures float across the pages in characteristically exuberant poses, and toward the end of the recitation a mini-plotline develops, as it gets to be Time to get Up, climb aboard that Velocipede (“Way-cool Wheels. Wuh, wuh”) and make an eXit, Yo! “Auf Wiedersehen!” the narrator calls out as he zzzzz’s away, “Talk to me again!” Read this to your favorite emergent readers, and they may be tempted to do just that. (Picture book. 6-8)