Oops Pounce Quick Run! An Alphabet Caper

Reviewed by: Sheila Dube - Springvale Public Library, Springvale, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 7, 2017

Review

In a mostly one word per page pattern, the story of a mouse being disturbed by the family dog, chased around the house and being appease by a gift of a ball is told through the structure of the alphabet. Action, items, rooms of the house are the types of descriptive words used. Twohy's cartoon dog and mouse show the action, expression and fun and provide a focal point on each page, with lots of white space. As is usually the case, the pressure to hit each of the 26 letters in a natural way can be daunting. This offering is no different with its uneven treatment of identifying words. For example, the letter "I" corresponds to "I'll chase!", the letter "X" is depicted by "XOXO" and "V" is "Very Cool". This picture book will be useful for one-on-one sharing for use in supporting alphabetic knowledge. The sparseness and lack of compelling story limits the possibility of repeat readings.

Overall Book Score: fair