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Book Reviews
The Alphabet: Getting to Z from A
Was Never So Much Fun

by Terry Miller Shannon
You might think an A to Z book would be heavy on the "zzzzzzzzzzzzz." However, these "well lettered" volumes each start with "Amazing," continuing on to "Zing":

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
By John Archambault and Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert
ISBN: 068983568X

How did all those letters get up in that tree? It all started when "A told b, and b told c, 'I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree.' " The entire alphabet follows--to disaster. I defy anyone to read this book without grinning and toe-tapping to the rhythm of the words.

The Alphabet Keeper
By Mary Murphy
ISBN: 0375823476

A whimsical adventure story starring those lovable rascals, the alphabet letters, on the loose! They're up to some ABC shenanigans, at one point rearranging themselves from "park" to "bark" and then to "dark" to evade the dread Alphabet Keeper. The illustrations are a "scream" (which I could wordplay into "dream"--another perfect description!).

Dr. Seuss's ABC
By Dr. Seuss
ISBN: 0394800303

I read this book so much to my grandson a few years back that I can still quote it from memory, cover to cover. I began to believe that I was a Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz. Sure, some of the words don't make sense, but it's a senselessly hilarious way to teach kids the alphabet. . ."as you can plainly see!"

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Terry Miller Shannon (www.terrymillershannon.com) and her son, Tim Warner, wrote a funny, rhyming picture book. Tim's three-year-old bath-loving son inspired TUB TOYS (Tricycle Press, 2002), which MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW says is "..greatly recommended..whimsical and fun." Check it out at Tub Toys



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