CAN U SAVE THE DAY?

The vowels raise havoc when they quit the farm after being insulted by the consonants.

There are five vowels (well, sometimes six or seven) while there are 21 consonants (well, sometimes 19 or 20). B seems to think that makes consonants better and more important. “The letter B stuck out his tongue / and bragged, ‘Our group is #1!’ ” A is offended and leaves, warning “You’ll regret / when all the vowels are gone, I bet.” When A disappears, the dog goes “brk,” the duck goes “quck,” and the frog goes “crok.” E leaves, too, and the sheep go “blt.” After I and O depart, the rooster goes “cck-ddl-d.” Fortunately, U takes pity on the consonants when a sleeping tractor goes out of control and all it can do is “hnk.” Clasping its hands over its head, U makes an O, causing the tractor to “honk” to wake up. The letters make peace and decide they are all one big family. This is a merry outing, with simple artwork that illustrates how funny words look when they drop a few letters. Fun can also be had for younger readers trying to figure out which letters are missing from a pig’s “onk” and a bird’s “twt”; classroom extension possibilities seem nearly endless. Stocker’s wordplay is the icing on the cake.

The moral of the story: Don’t anger vowels, or horses will go “ngh.” (Picture book. 4-8)