Engaging alphabet books are perennial bestsellers with unlimited demand. As in their previous collaboration, the Woods bring lower-case letters to life in a fun adventure. Little x has left, upset he's hardly used, and the other letters set out to find him. They find x playing the castle xylophone for the mysterious Master, capital M, who threatens to turn them into alphabet soup! Some quick thinking by Little x saves the day, and soon they are all on their way home--just in time to make Mom's birthday surprise: a cake with Little x all over. He's the only one who stands for kisses!

 From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. Charley's letters from Alphabet Adventure (2001) set off on another escapade to find Little x, who was absent from the bedtime roll call. After Little t tattles that x took a pencil and flew away, the other letters hop on a pencil and take off to hunt for him. They find him in a castle, held captive by Giant M, a miserable monster. It seems Little x ran away because Charley never used him. But Little i knows a secret; tomorrow is Charley's mother's birthday, and Charley plans to use Little x. Monster M lets Little x go and allows each letter to choose a gift from his treasure room. As it turns out, Charley makes a cake, spells out "I Love You Mom," and uses Little x four times--for kisses, of course. Visual and verbal puns add to the fun of learning the alphabet, as do the vividly colored, digitally created illustrations that look like animated photographs. Kids will love the "I Spy" aspect of matching letters to the gifts. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-A story that invites participation and promotes letter recognition. When Little x disappears from Charley's Alphabet, the rest of the letters search for him, finding him in the castle of Master M. To their surprise, he does not want to be rescued, because he is useful there unlike at home, where Charley seldom uses him. When Master M awakes and threatens to use the letters in soup, Little x comes to the rescue and they all return home safely. There, Charley helps his dad decorate a birthday cake for his mother, and he uses Little x four times-because it is the only letter that stands for kisses. As in Alphabet Adventure (Scholastic, 2001), children will work on a skill necessary to begin reading as they enjoy the story and the bright, three-dimensional-looking digital illustrations filled with detail.
Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

媒体推荐

Once again, Bruce Wood's super-saturated, digital pictures bubble with a playfully surreal sense of scale, volume and detailing... -- Publisher's Weekly, September 1, 2003