Z Goes Home
PreS-Gr. 2. The letter Z abandons its allotted spot in the City Zoo sign and heads off in Agee's innovative alphabet book. Children can track the redZ's journey past an Alien, over a Bridge, into some Cake, and over Hurdles until the red-letter moment when it finally finds its way to its similarly colored friends and announces, "Hey everybody, I'm home!" Each letter is exemplified by a noun (Ink, Jetty, Karate), but to make matters more interesting, the object is also shaped like the letter: a round cake, partially eaten by theZ, forms a C; the labyrinth whereZgets lost is composed ofLs; and the seashore, whereZis taking a dip, is S-shaped. The very last page whimsically defines the 26 words. In most alphabet books, letters follow one after the other and children know what's coming next, but this is less predictable. Bold shapes and lines create a clean, comical look.Karin SnelsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved