Ridiculous rhymes from A to Z

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The rhymes and illustrations for each letter in this energetic alphabet book are as bodacious and full of verve as Bugs Bunny reciting Ogden Nash. Each double-page spread is divided into black-bordered sections, eight per letter, allowing both text and art to focus on a series of alliterative scenarios. In the ``W'' section, for example, a winking walrus flies a watermelon plane as Wesley in a watchtower wonders why; on the ``S'' page, ``Sally's on a spotted sofa,/ and sitting right beside her,/ [are] a squid, a snake, a skunk,/ a snail, a scarecrow, and a spider.'' It's hard to say which is more ridiculous, the first-time author's rhymes or Catrow's (see She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head!, reviewed above) wacky watercolor illustrations. The jaunty, rhythmic verses, filled with wordplay, and the stream-of-consciousness tone propel one non-sequitur after another. Catrow rises to the occasion with waggish vignettes, somewhat reminiscent of Victoria Chess (or perhaps a mellow Henrik Drescher). His elongated figures and funhouse perspectives capture the outlandish fun of Walker's verses. An alphabet book to be read again and again. Ages 3-8. (Nov.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2Alliterative nonsense rhymes, arranged in strips across each double-page spread, accompany each letter of the alphabet. Many are forced and slang-filled: "With an H/ you can say/ `Hello, how are you?/ Hooray!'/ And hogs and/ hens with/ helmets on,/ horses in the/ hay,/ a huge, huge hippopotamus,/ a he-man holds him high,/ half a Herb, harmonica,/ a handsome hockey guy...'' Brightly colored watercolor cartoons are as far-fetched as the rhymes, which quickly become tedious. Oodles of others are better than this ordinary offering.Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY

Hazel Rochman

Lots of alphabet books have fun with alliteration that uses a string of words with the key letter to tell a story or make a joke. One of the best is Anne Shelby's "Potluck" (1991), which has fun with foods ("Ben brought bagels" ); another one is Anita Lobel's "Alison's Zinnia" (1990). This book is not for preschoolers learning the alphabet, but for older kids playing with words and how they sound and the funny things they mean. For each letter there's a double-page spread in eight sections that contain comic doggerel rhyme and cartoon watercolors, the more ridiculous the better. There are piano-playing porcupines and singing sailors on a sinking submarine and Ulysses in his underwear riding a unicycle. Unfortunately, it all goes on much too long, the rhymes are often forced, and there's no unifying theme or story to make you turn the page. One or two verses for each letter would have been plenty. In the best verses, the wordplay is clever, and the pictures pick up the nonsense and extend it.