cover image Alphabet Rotten Kids

Alphabet Rotten Kids

David Elliott. Philomel Books, $14.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-399-22260-3

``Agatha, / bad as they come, / not nearly though as bad as some, / took a wad of chewing gum / and stuck her elbow to her thumb.'' The first of 26 naughty children spotlighted in this offbeat alphabet book, Agatha is one of the more benign specimens. Bartholomew pours ink into his teacher's tea, Ferdinand fills the living room with dirt, Margarite shoves a turkey leg down her parakeet's throat and Tip suspends his twin brother from the drapes with a giant safety pin. De Mejo's pictures--at their best, Gorey- esque--bring this motley crew to horrifying life. Yet the cartoony illustrations, like the verse, run the gamut: some are clever, others are disappointingly drab. Still, the humor is silly enough to appeal to kids--rotten or not. Ages 4-up. (May)